The Spirit of a Fighter
by tinkertot95
Summary: When you make a big decision, the best course of action is to stick with it and roll with the punches as they come. She figured it would be quite literally, but figurative punches can hurt just as bad.
1. Optimism

_Hello all! This is a re-upload of chapter one! I'm in the process of re-writing a few of the chapters because I was looking back and I felt like it was incredibly cringy so I'm fixing it! Feel free to re-read them, but don't feel obligated! The same general idea is the same and it doesn't affect later chapters, in fact, it makes more sense! I've been working on this story for quite a while and I like to think that I've grown as a writer and so I hope that you embark upon this journey and come to love the gang as much as I do! The last update is chapter 4, after that everything is the same as I originally posted!_

* * *

"Who wants to know?" Thomas, my bartender and friend, asks in a tone implying that the answer better be good. He's talking to a well-groomed man though.

"Captain Christopher Pike of Starfleet." The man says and Thomas's eyes shift to me. I nod.

"Alright, she's over there." He nods in my direction and as Captain Pike walks over, I sit up a little straighter and put my hood down. He sits down across from me.

"Olivia Gray? It's nice to meet you." He says as he offers his hand and I shake it firmly. "We need to have a talk."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." I say, successfully keeping the confusion off of my tone. "What do we need to talk about?"

"I received an anonymous tip that you were considering skipping out on Starfleet and I came to see if I could change your mind." He says and my eyebrows raise.

"Well, I'm not sure if you can. Xenolinguistics is pretty competitive and if I'm on my way out of here, I need it to be guaranteed." I say and he sets a pamphlet in front of me. "What's this?"

"It's a new program that I think you're a good candidate for." He says and I read through it.

"With all due respect, I'm not so sure you're right about that. This says that I'll need to have advanced combat training and I'm not exactly in the right kind of shape for that stuff." I look at him, he's sizing me up.

"I know a guy who can get you up to speed. In more ways than one." He says and I look at the pamphlet again. "You're capable of more than what you think. You're not going to find the support here to tap into that. Your intellect will be wasted if you stay."

"Captain Pike…" I say and then I take a deep breath. "I don't know who called you to come here or what they told you, but once I go, I am opening up a huge can of worms. I haven't even told my family or my fiancé that I was accepted yet…"

"I know that if you stay, that man will end up killing you." He says and I feel the blood drain from my face. "I know that he tried recently."

"He wasn't trying to kill me…" The excuse is automatic. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"I've spoken to you once and I know that you've got a lot of nerve in spite of what you've been through. Come to Starfleet and get the respect you deserve." He says and my hands curl into light fists to control the shaking.

"I need guarantees…and even if I go into mediation, I don't think I can do the combat stuff." I say, thankful for my voice staying steady. I open my eyes and look at him.

"If you say yes, I can get you to my friend in Iowa in two hours. He'll get you up to speed for the start of the semester." He says and my heart is racing. "I don't do this for every cadet, but I see the potential you have. Do you say yes?" I look at my bag on the seat beside me. I've got some clothes in there.

"Yes, sir." I say as I look back at him, right in the eye. "And you said you can have me there in two hours?"

"All you need to do now is tell your family. Just so no one files a missing persons report." He says and that's when fear creeps back into play.

"Right, okay." I say and then I take out my phone and dial my father. It rings twice before he answers.

"Niki, you need to get your ass back home right now. I don't know why you think you can pull this kind of stunt." He says as soon as he picks up.

"Actually, Dad, I'm never coming home." I say, sounding more confident than I feel. "A couple of months ago, I applied to Starfleet and I took the aptitude tests and I got in."

"You're not going to Starfleet." That's Marcus, he sounds as condescending as ever. "You really think they want you? You're better off staying here with me."

"Actually, they do want me. I'm done with all of this. I wish you the best with all of your future endeavors." I say because that's the first thing that comes to mind.

"If you step so much as one toe outside of Illinois, you can kiss this entire family goodbye." My father says and that doesn't hurt like he wants it to.

"That is unfortunate, but if that is the way it has to be. Goodbye." I say and then I hang up and look at Captain Pike. "What's next?"

"You took your first step off of that sinking ship. If you'll come with me, we'll make some arrangements." He says as he stands up. I stand as well and shoulder my bag.

"Yeah, just a second." I say and I go up to the bar. "Thanks for everything, Thomas. Can you let Pete know I decided to go?"

"Of course, take care of yourself Miss Olivia." He says and I smile before I rejoin Captain Pike and leave Scully's for hopefully the last time.

* * *

I know I look suspicious as I enter the shipyard that I will be departing the Midwest from, so I already have my documentation ready before the flight officer even has a chance to say something.

"At least you're aware of how suspicious you look." She says as she takes the padd from me. "Cadet Gray, why aren't you in uniform?"

"There was an issue. Captain Pike said that I could get it sorted out once we reach San Francisco." I say and she hands me back my padd.

"Alright, as you were. You'll be allowed to board in fifteen minutes. The rest of the cadets are waiting over there." She gestures to where everyone else is waiting and I offer a slight smile before I head over there. I notice most of the guys checking me out, mostly because they're not even trying to hide it. I hit them with my 'fuck off' glare and they look away.

"You're going to have to teach me how to do that." A woman says as she walks up and stands next to me. "Nyota Uhura."

"Olivia Gray. Nice to meet you." I say with a small smile. "And really, I think the look only works so well because I don't care what they think of me. I'm not just something pretty to look at."

"Solid point, I don't think some people get that." She says, rolling her eyes. "So what are you majoring in?"

"I'm going into the new mediation program, so a good mix of xenolinguistics and combat." I say and she nods appreciatively.

"We'll probably be seeing a lot of each other then. I'm going in for xenolinguistics." She says and I smile. I've already made an acquaintance.

"It'll be nice to see a familiar face, then. I'm not great at making friends." I say and she offers a smile.

"I don't think you're doing too bad." She says and then it is announced that we're allowed to board now. I see Marcus looking around and then he spots me.

"I'll see you onboard?" I ask and she nods before she walks away. I steel myself before I meet him halfway. "Marcus, what are you doing here?"

"I came to bring you home." He says, shoulders squared. I'm intimidated, but I don't show it. His imposing stature is what has always made it easy for him to have dominance over me, but not anymore.

"I will not be returning to Illinois with you, Marcus." I say and he sighs, a very agitated noise that sends my anxiety into overdrive.

"Niki, your home is with me. We're gonna get married and we're gonna spend the rest of our lives together. You're mine." He says and that causes the anxiety to be replaced with anger.

"My home is with Starfleet. And as far as I'm concerned, there's not a place on this whole damn planet far enough away from you to satisfy me. You are done hurting me." I say and before I can react, he punches me. I duck out of the way of his next punch and hit him in the solar plexus as hard as I can. He hunches over and I grab him by the shoulders and knee him in the face before I push kick him. He falls back. "Goodbye, Marcus." I turn and nearly run into a bedraggled man who smells like a bar. "Sorry" I go to walk away and he places a hand on my shoulder.

"Darlin', why don't you sit down for a minute and let me take a look at that eye?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow. "I'm a doctor."

"I guess if you feel like you need to." I say, some bite still in my tone from my anger. I glance over and see security taking Marcus away and I feel a little relieved. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault."

"That's alright." He says and then he leads me over to a bench and I sit down. He produces a small flashlight. "Now just follow this with your eyes." I know the drill well enough by this point. "Any dizziness?"

"Just a bit." I say and then I shake my head. "It'll pass soon. It may be hard to believe, but this isn't my first rodeo."

"I figured, looks like he was a real winner." He says and then he clicks off the flashlight. "The good news is, you're gonna be able to keep the eye."

"That's such a relief." I say with a hand over my heart. "I'm Olivia Gray, it's nice to meet you Doctor…"

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy." He says as he puts the flashlight away. We stand up and begin walking towards the shuttle. Once we're inside, we go our separate ways. I look around and Nyota spots me and she raises her eyebrows.

"What the hell happened to you?" She asks and I sigh as I take a seat and strap myself in. The dizziness isn't gone yet.

"Some people aren't so thrilled that I'm leaving." I say, as I don't really want to get into it. "But I defended myself, don't worry."

"Well, we should probably be glad that I didn't see it." Another woman says as she takes the seat beside me. "Troian Sullivan."

"Olivia Gray." I say as I shake her hand. "And I'm hopeful that he got the hint this time." She laughs a little, but then her expression changes as a man who also looks to have been in a fight walks past us and sits with a seat in between us.

"I told you, damn it. I don't need a doctor. I am a doctor. I have aviophobia. That means the fear of dyin' in a flying thing." A familiar voice carries across the ship and I look over. Leonard McCoy.

"You need to sit down before I make you sit down." The flight officer says and he begrudgingly agrees. He heads over and sits down in the empty seat between me and the guy who apparently freaked Troian Sullivan out.

"I may throw up on ya." McCoy says as he gets himself strapped in. He's not talking to me though.

"I think these things are pretty safe." The guy says and McCoy looks at him for a moment, unimpressed.

"Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. A solar flare might crop up and cook us in our seats. And wait'll you're sittin' pretty with Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in silence and darkness." He sounds a little tense.

"Well I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space." The other guy says and I shake my head to myself…that's pretty obvious.

"Yeah? Well I got no place else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce." McCoy says, producing a flask and taking a drink. That's why he smelled like a bar. "All I've got left is my bones."

"Jim Kirk." The man finally introduces himself. McCoy takes a drink from a flask before he offers it to Kirk.

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy." He says and Kirk takes a drink. I've probably just witnessed the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

"So, Gray, have you got a roommate lined up?" Troian asks and I look at her instead of at my hands. Eye contact is something I'm working on.

"I don't. I figured Starfleet would just throw me in with someone." I say with a shrug. "Why? Are you interested?"

"I am, actually. There's something about you." She says and I smile a little. "You seem like my kind of person."

"Well, since we're going to be best friends, I think we should come up with nicknames for each other." I say and she chuckles.

"Yeah? Let me think." She says as she looks at me. "Olivia? We could go for the obvious Liv, but you don't look like a Liv. How about I call you Ollie?"

"I like that." I say, even though it reminds me of my brother and that makes me a little sad. "Let's see…Troian Sullivan…Sully would be acceptable, but I don't know if that's best friend material. Why don't I just call you Tro? Our ship name can be Trollie."

"Trollie? I love it." She says and I laugh. Her amused expression turns to one of annoyance as she looks over my shoulder. "What do you want, JT?"

"I didn't think you were going the Starfleet route." Jim Kirk says and I glance at him before I make eye contact with McCoy. He raises his eyebrows.

"Things change apparently." She says and he offers a 'fair enough' look. "What made you want to join?"

"Pike dared me to do better." He says and apparently that makes sense to her. He looks at me then and what some consider a sexy smirk falls in place. "Pleasure to meet you, Jim Kirk." He offers his hand.

"Olivia Gray." I say, using a tone that denounces any ideas that he might have a chance with me. "You doing okay now, Doctor?"

"McCoy'll do." He says and I do my best to hide my amusement. "And I'm fine. We're not dead…yet."

"You sound about as optimistic as I can be." I say with a laugh. He looks grumpy, but then he just shakes his head.

"How's that dizziness? Gone away yet?" He asks and I try to gauge how I'm feeling. Not too bad all things considered.

"I'm still a little dizzy, but it'll pass. Thanks." I say and then I place my cold hand on my face. "I definitely want to get an ice pack when we land."

"What happened? I don't typically see shiners like that on girls like you." Jim says and I purse my lips.

"Loan shark. Came to try and collect before I left town." I say and then I laugh. "No, even though I returned the ring, my ex isn't convinced that I'm serious about being done. I politely declined his invitation to return 'home'." I use air quotes.

"Politely declined." McCoy says with a shake of his head. "If that was the polite way of declinin', I'd hate to see your impolite way." I laugh again. "You were smart to kick that loser to the curb."

"If only my family felt the same way." I say wistfully. "Apparently twenty-two is past my prime. Nobody will ever want to marry me and I'll end up a spinster."

"Marriage ain't all it's cracked up to be. Take it from me, Darlin'." He says with a shake of his head. "And twenty-two? You've got nothin' but time if that's what you want."

"Maybe I can just be married to my work. I plan to hit the ground running. The summer was incredibly boring not having papers to write." I say with a sigh.

"What are you majoring in?" Tro asks and I smile because I've warmed up to the idea of my future position.

"I'm doing the new mediation track. Captain Pike thinks I have what it takes, so we'll see." I say with a shrug.

"You know? I'm going to support you, but the idea of you going in for those combat classes kind of makes me worried." She says and that causes a small lump to form in my throat. She's known me twenty minutes. In the past month and a half, I have trained in krav maga and I've put on enough weight to break a hundred pounds now.

"I'm small but mighty…and I plan on not being so small anymore." I say, not wanting to go too much into detail about it.

"You like jumpin' in over your head, don't ya?" McCoy asks and I chuckle at that. I hope that talking is distracting him from his phobia at least.

"At five-two, it's not hard to jump in over my head." I say with a smile in his direction. "I'm not worried, I double majored and had three minors in college."

"Yeah? What were those? If you don't mind me askin'." He asks and I only feel a little awkward under the attention.

"Not at all. I majored in psychology and sociology. Social psych was my favorite, so the second major made sense. Then I minored in xenolinguistics, health sciences, and creative writing." He shakes his head. "What's that? Is my minor in health sciences amusing to you?"

"No, it's the creative writing that gets me." He says and I laugh, shaking my own head at him.

"I did as much as I could to piss my father off. He's the sort of guy who thinks that women belong in the home, popping babies out left and right." I say and Tro shakes her head. "Starfleet was the final straw. I'm officially disowned. But I don't feel so bad about that, he said if I crossed the state line he was done? I sent a video of me moonwalking across the state line."

"Please tell me you saved that." Troian says as she laughs. I nod, unable to contain my own laughter as I nod. "Oh god, I'll bet he loved that."

"Oh he was furious. It was wonderful." I shake my head. "So I've been hiding out in Iowa for the past month and a half."

"That's not exactly the sort of place you think of when you think of hiding out somewhere." Kirk says and I shrug.

"I guess it isn't, but I had a connection." I don't intend for it to sound mysterious, but it does. "It beats hanging out in a gross dive bar where your closes friend is a man named One-Eyed Pete."

"Are you kidding? That sounds like an amazing place to hide out." He says and I laugh. "Did he really only have one eye?"

"No, he definitely had two eyes. But between barely weighing a hundred pounds and him being the sort of guy he was, you don't exactly ask how one gets that sort of nickname." I say, amused with myself as the curiosity burns. "He and Thomas, the bartender, looked after me. Scully's was great…but it drew a certain crowd."

"One-Eyed Pete doesn't sound like a half-bad guy at all." Tro says and then she shakes her head. "I never thought I'd say anything like that."

"Yeah…well…" I shrug. "If there's anything I've learned in the past month, it's that going with the flow is a lot less stressful."

"We'll see." She says and I chuckle. "I think I'm going to adopt you. Since you got disowned and everything. My dad will love you."

"We went from best friends to sisters in half an hour? This relationship is moving a little fast, but I don't think I hate it." I say and she winks at me.

"How is Big Sul doing?" Kirk asks as he tries to get a better look at her. She looks unimpressed.

"Last I saw he was doing alright." She says, deciding to be civil. "He's off world right now. How is your mom?"

"She's also off world." He says, giving no clues to the state of her well-being. That leads me to believe he hasn't spoken with her in a while. "The douchebag finally left."

"Good." She says, her tone is a little softer now. I glance over at him and I immediately feel that there is something there. They used to be close. We hit some turbulence and McCoy's hands squeeze into fists, his knuckles turn white.

"Settle down." I say gently as I reach and take one of his hands in a comforting gesture. Sometimes that's all you need to snap out of that anxiety. "With my psychology background, I might be able to help you overcome that phobia of yours. Starfleet doesn't have to be hell for you."

"I appreciate the sentiment." He says dryly and I chuckle as he grips my hand tightly, but not so tight that it hurts me.

* * *

I step out of the audio lab I've been using for the last couple of hours and lean against the wall to collect myself before I head out into the main hall. I do not want to leave this building looking like I spent the past five minutes sobbing.

"Olivia? What's wrong?" McCoy asks as he walks up. Oh yeah, he was meeting up with me to grab lunch.

"Nothing." I say, unconvincing as I clear my throat. He gives me a look. "I stumbled across a pretty emotional audio file. It was someone's last words to their wife before…" I press the heels of my hands to my eyes. "I have no idea how I got there…but…" I take a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I just didn't realize you were such a bleedin' heart." He says and I give him a look. "I'm just tryin' to make ya laugh, Darlin'." I roll my eyes. "That must've been hard to listen to."

"It was like a car accident, I just couldn't pull myself away from it. I still believe in love in spite of everything and so…even though it was their last communication…it kind of makes you want that sort of connection to someone." I shake my head. "Anyway, let's go get lunch. I'm starving."

"When aren't you starving?" He asks and I scoff. "I don't even know where you put all the food you eat. It's a medical marvel."

"That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." I say as I put my hand over my heart.

"Yeah? You've problem heard them all, haven't you?" He asks and I raise my eyebrows at him, giving an amused smile. I'm pretty sure he just indirectly called me hot. He opens the door for me.

"Thanks." I say as I step through. "So what class did you just have? Were you learning about how to treat Space Madness?"

"That is a thing, you know." He says and defensively and I smirk at him. "Oh you just think you're so cute. All three of ya."

"Please, McCoy, I don't think I'm cute." I imply that I know I'm cute, but really I don't think I'm all that great. Sure, better than average, but I'm not as great as what people apparently think.

"Don't let Sullivan hear you talkin' about yourself like that." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "That self-deprecating tone."

"All I said was that I don't think I'm cute. What if I know I am?" I ask with a shrug and he shakes his head.

"Whatever you say." He says and I chuckle. "Did you end up gettin' any sleep last night?" I think back. "You physically can't keep doin' that to yourself."

"It's technically not my fault. I haven't found my study stride yet. I'll be reviewing notes and reading material and next thing I know it's time to get ready. I think I did get like forty-five minutes last night." I say, trying to defend myself.

"I'm gonna start comin' in there and sedatin' you. No one's gonna stop me, either." He says and I chuckle. "I get that you have a lot to study, but you're not good to Starfleet dead on your feet, Darlin'."

"On the contrary, I think that there is some merit to me being able to function on minimal sleep." I say with a grin. "But I am searching for that stride. I'll get there, but we're only a little over a month in." He gets an exasperated look. We make it to the mess hall and grab our trays before we locate a table and sit down.

"So I've been meanin' to talk to you about somethin'." He says and I give him my full attention. "Your attending physician, Forbey. What do you think about him?"

"I met him briefly and I've been putting off my initial physical exam." I say and he sighs. "He's creepy. I made up an excuse and got out of there as fast as I could."

"That sigh wasn't for you. He's a quack." He says and I get what he's trying to say to me now.

"So you want to be my doctor." I say, a little amused by that. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you consider me a friend."

"Somethin' like that." He says and I feel the smirk fall across my face. "Just request me as your physician."

"Alright, I'll put in a request when I go back to my room." I say and he pulls out his padd and pulls up a form. "What's that?"

"Just sign right there and then initial there." He says and I sign with my finger, trying to contain my amusement.

"I had no idea you were so anxious about this." I say as he puts the device away and goes back to eating.

"Forbey is a quack." He reiterates. "When do you want your exam?" I shrug. "Alright then, we'll take care of it tomorrow when you undoubtedly report to the clinic with an injury."

"Ye of so little faith." I say, pretending to be offended. The combat has not been easy, but it's going to get better.

* * *

"Shut up." I say darkly as I hobble into the clinic. McCoy stands up immediately and helps me walk over to an examination room. He essentially lifts me onto the bed.

"What'd ya end up hurtin' this time?" He asks as he grabs a device and starts scanning me. "I'll give ya shit for it later."

"Always so professional." I sigh and wince. "Probably a bruised rib or two…I will definitely have a nasty bruise on my back and then my ankle."

"Bruising. No cracks in the ribs." He says more to himself. "Sprained ankle, bruised metatarsal. We'll have to keep an eye on, you don't want any fluid buildup. Ice and rest is the best we can do for now."

"McCoy, I can't afford to sit out. There has to be something else you can do." I say and he looks at me.

"Gray," It sounds weird because he usually just calls me darlin'. "There is more that I can do, but not until some of that swelling goes down. I'll be more than happy to check on it later, but for now you're just gonna have to deal with it." He goes over to a cabinet and grabs a pressure bandage. "We need to have a conversation."

"I thought we were having one." I say dryly. He gives me a look as he removes my shoe. He holds me stead as I pull the leg of my pants up so that it doesn't cover the afflicted area. I see the bruising and swelling and sigh. "Do you mean as Olivia and McCoy or as doctor and patient?"

"The former of the two." He says as he begins to wrap my ankle. "As you know, my shift ends when the next doctor comes in to relieve me. I can see ya back to your room if you can wait." I nod. "Good. You can rest in here with an ice pack. Lay back." He orders and I sigh, but obey anyway. He props my ankle with a pillow before he places the ice pack. I fold my hands across my stomach and stare up at the ceiling. If he wants to talk as friends, it has to be about what he's learned due to the access he has to my medical records. I'm not stranger to the hospital. Who knows what else he might have access to. I jump as the door opens and McCoy walks in with his things. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." I say as I remove the ice pack and gently hop off the table. I see as he tenses to move to my side. He also gives me a long look. I wink at him.

"Just leave your shoe off, I brought you some crutches." He says and I maintain eye contact as I sit down on the chair and pull my shoe back on. I bring my knee to my chest and tie the laces.

"I don't need crutches. I made it here just fine on my own and luckily we aren't too far from our residence hall." I stand up, not putting much weight on it. "This is by no means the worst injury I've ever had, as I'm sure you're aware."

"At least put all your weight on me." He says as he walks over and slips an arm around my waist. I don't say anything as we head out and to the residence hall. It was kind of funny that he and Jim ended up being our neighbors in the co-ed housing. I tap in my code as we reach my room and we go inside.

"I'm going to change first. Then we can talk." I say as I go into my room and close the door. I change into yoga pants and a tee shirt before I throw my hair into a bun on top of my head. I take a steadying breath before I go out and sit on the couch beside my friend. "What do you want to know?"

"How are you alive?" He asks, not easing into it like I had hoped he would. That's not exactly his style though. "What on Earth were you thinking?"

"First off," I start, my tone sounds a little small to me and I don't like that. "sometimes people can say something so much that you believe it's the truth. The guy I fell in love with was not the guy he ended up being. Before I found that out, he treated me better than my dad did. I thought that he wanted to help me accomplish my dreams." I take a breath. "And second, I survived Marcus because of my father. When you've been getting the shit knocked out of you since the age of ten, you learn to take hits rather well."

"The most recent, you definitely don't stab someone you wanna keep around." He says and I close my eyes. "How'd you survive that?"

"We were both drunk, but I was a little less so. I sobered up pretty quickly when he started hitting me and after he stabbed me, I ran to Scully's for some reason and Pete took me to the hospital." I close my eyes at the still pretty fresh memory. Pete had been furious, I thought he might kill Marcus, but I begged him not to. "After that…if not for an acquaintance from one of my classes I doubt I would have lived much longer. He convinced me to take the aptitude tests and apply."

"I figured that Marcus hittin' ya was a pretty common thing, but I didn't know about your dad." He says and I nod.

"It didn't start until I was ten." I say softly. "I have an older brother and he took the brunt of the abuse up until he turned eighteen and left. That's when I apparently started doing things that bothered him and so…" I shake my head. "If I'd been smart, I would have run when I was eighteen too, but instead, I thought Marcus was going to save me. I was stupid."

"Well, you're outta there now." He says and then there's a silence that isn't exactly uncomfortable. "You should prop up that ankle." He takes the pillow from behind his back and sets it on the coffee table. I smile and prop my ankle on it. He produces an ice pack from his bag and he places it. "I never wanna let that idiot hurt you again."

"That's the idea. Well, not letting him hurt me. You don't have anything to do with that." I say and he gives me a look. "What?"

"You're my friend." He says and that, of all things, is what makes me feel emotional. "And I don't know what you think of friendship, but in my book that means that sometimes, even if you don't like it, you've gotta stick your neck out for 'em."

"I'm not worth all that." I say, waving away his words. "I really appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not going to let anyone stick their neck out for me."

"Darlin' it's not like I got much left to lose. Remember? The whole damn planet." He says and that makes me laugh.

"That's bull shit. I know for a fact you have a great relationship with your parents." I say and he allows that. "You have a lot to lose…and I guess I'm building up some things to lose and that scares me."

"If you weren't at least a little scared after what oy fled, I'd be concerned that you were stupid or somethin'." He says and I can't help but laugh at that. "You don't have to face this alone, ya know. Sullivan adopted you, remember?"

"Big Sul does love me even though he's never met me face to face." I allow and then I frown. "Don't tell Jim about my record. You know how upset he gets when Marcus is brought up."

"I'm not gonna lie to him, but I won't bring it up on my own. That and there's patient confidentiality." He says and I guess that's okay.

"I don't know what it is about them, but they are incredibly protective over me." I say with a shake of my head.

"You've got a way with people like I've never seen before." He agrees. "You're one of the only skirts Jim doesn't chase."

"I've got a killer 'fuck off' glare. If a guy checked me out? That was considered to be my fault, so I did what I could to keep it from happening." I roll my eyes. "As if I can control the idiocy of man."

"I'm conflicted about laughing at that. Really? Your fault?" He seems more annoyed than amused.

"I'm not used to anyone thinking I'm so funny." I say wistfully and then I sigh. "So is there anything else you wish to know about Niki Gray?"

"So obviously, Nichole is your middle name, but why did you go by that before? And what made ya prefer Olivia?" He asks and I smile.

"First of all, I've always preferred Olivia. My brother used to call me Ollie. They called me Niki because I'm named after my late maternal grandmother. She was a wonderful woman and so I'm honored to bear her name. Also, Olivia sounds a lot more grown up than Niki. I've been infantilized for so long that I like going by something that I choose."

"Well if it means anything comin' from me, you look like more of an Olivia than you do a Niki." He says and that makes me smile.

"That actually means quite a bit. Since we're friends and all." I say and that gets somewhat of a smile out of him. "Is there some way that we can repress all of those memories? Like keep the stuff regarding my education, but get rid of the rest so that I can just focus on achieving my dreams?"

"Unfortunately, there's no reset button. Sometimes the beds we've had to lay in don't give us up so easily." He says and my amused expression turns neutral. "There, this has been your time with Dr. Sunshine."

"Oh, is that what this was?" I ask, laughing probably a little harder than necessary. "Jesus, I was kidding about the reset and you had to take it someplace real."


	2. Something to Write Home About

_Hello everyone! Welcome to yet another re-upload. We've got some more minor fixes, but it's the same deal as before. It doesn't really impact the story in the future, it's more for my peace of mind because I do refer back to the early days when I'm writing! If you're new here, I hope that you're enjoying the story!_

* * *

I feel a great level of apprehension as I walk into the restaurant. Being late always bugs me, but there is nothing else that I could do really. My classes come first for me. I approach the podium.

"Hello, I'm meeting the Sullivan party." I say and recognition flashes in the host's eyes. He picks up a menu.

"Of course, right this way Miss." He says as he leads the way back to a more secluded area of the restaurant. I see Troian and then immediately who is her father. Admiral Trevor Sullivan is an imposing man, but not in the way that Marcus and my father are. He has a presence that commands respect, he doesn't have to fight for it. I see a lot of ways in which Tro resembles him, but it's especially in the eyes. They have the same fierce, sharp eyes. He is a handsome man, but not in the same way that Troian is beautiful. If they weren't scared of her, I'm sure we'd have guys beating down our door to try and have a chance with her.

"Admiral Sullivan, I'm glad to finally get to meet you face to face." I say as I stand in front of the table. I feel incredibly awkward. He gets up from the table and walks around.

"Drop the admiral part, you can just call me dad." He says as he sweeps me up into a hug. He pats me on the back twice before he releases me and pulls out a chair.

"Thanks….Dad?" I say and he beams briefly before he goes and sits down again. A crystal glass filled with water is sat in front of me as well as the menu. "Thank you." I say as I flip it open. No prices…so it must be pricey.

"So you're in the mediation program." Trevor says after taking a drink from his own glass. Something alcoholic. Whiskey by the looks of it. "Tell me how that's going."

"It's going well." I say lightly. "I have an adequate understanding of several federation languages already as well as some of the cultural aspects, it's just the matter of whipping my body into shape."

"From what Troian tells me, you're doing an excellent job." He says and I lower my eyes and give a small smile. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to get in contact with me. You are part of this family now."

"Yes, sir." I say, trying to keep my voice from being small. "I will be sure to remember that, but at the same time I don't want to get something because I know the right people."

"Atta girl." He approves with a nod. "You've got the Sullivan spirit of fighting for what you want. You'll go far if you want to."

"That's the plan." I say, gaining some confidence. "I want this more than I've ever wanted anything else."

"You're so cute." Tro says as she reaches over and pinches my cheek. "See? I told you." I roll my eyes. "And if I were you, I'd get…this." She points it out on the menu.

"Alright." I nod as I read the description. "That does sound really good." The three of us order from the server who appeared out of nowhere and I take a sip of my water.

"So does Kirk bother you too much?" Trevor asks and I turn my full attention to him, a slightly raised eyebrow in question.

"He doesn't really bother me too much. It's more like an affectionate annoyance…he's kind of like a brother to me." I say and then I shake my head. "And I have no clue how it happened."

"He has a way of doing that." Tro says with a sigh as she takes a drink from her glass. "Dad was close friends with his dad." She explains.

"Winona and I stayed pretty close after George passed away." Trevor says, his demeanor changing slightly. "He was a good man. Jim should try harder to live up to that."

"That's not fair, Dad." She says, giving him a look. "Jim is a decent guy. He at least has some respect for the women he sleeps with."

"That's more than you can say for some other guys." I say, trying to bring in more of a positive note. "Jim has an incredible amount of potential and I think that if we continue to encourage him to apply himself, he could be a really great leader someday."

"You sound more like a mom than his sister." Tro says, sounding amused. "But I think you're right." The rest of dinner takes on a lot lighter of an atmosphere. Trevor asks me a million questions to get to know me better. He tells me about his girlfriend Barbara whom was unable to make it for dinner, but he assures me that she will love me as much as she loves Tro. We arrive back at the dorms just as McCoy and Jim do.

"Well ladies, you look absolutely stunning this evening. What might the occasion be?" Jim asks, clearly drunk.

"Ollie here got to officially meet Big Sul." Tro says as she puts her arm around my shoulders. "What'd you think?"

"He's great." I say with a smile. "You know? I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like him before."

"That's great, but Sullivan, do you think you could give me a hand? Lover boy here specifically asked me earlier to not let him go out tonight. I'm lucky I got him this far." McCoy says, clearly very annoyed with our friend. Tro immediately changes her disposition and grabs Jim by the ear and drags him off. I laugh. "Those two." He shakes his head.

"They don't realize it yet, but they're in love. It's a very classic case and it's going to make a beautiful story." I say and he looks down at me. "I know, I know. How can I possibly be this much of a romantic after everything? But I can just tell, you know?"

"If you say so. Why anyone would wanna love that infant…" He grumbles and I snicker. "You look nice."

"Thanks." I say, only feeling slightly embarrassed. It's a pleasantry. "It was the best I could do in a rush. I had an exam that took longer than I anticipated and so I ended up being late." He looks at me for a moment before he shakes his head. "Well shall we walk back up together, neighbor?"

"It'd be my pleasure, Darlin'." He says and I smile before I lead the way to the lift. We step on and he looks at me again. "And if that's the best you could do in a rush, I'd hate to see how many heads you'd turn if you had more time." That makes me blush. "Not that you need make up or anything like that."

"You've had a couple of drinks too, haven't you?" I ask as I offer him a sly look. He shrugs.

"I have the same opinion sober as I do with a couple in me, Darlin'." He drawls and I shake my head. "And I thought you knew you were cute."

"I'm alright looking. Nothing to write home about, but enough to need to give my 'fuck off' glare every now and again." I step off of the lift.

"You probably get written home about quite a bit." He says and I roll my eyes. "I'm just sayin'." I look over my shoulder at him.

"Have you written home about me, McCoy?" I ask, sounding particularly sassy. He shrugs again. "Mhm."

"Damn it, Jim! I'm going to have McCoy hypo you!" I hear Troian threaten from down the hall. I pop my knuckles and roll my shoulders.

"Here goes." I say as I see Jim running up, he's laughing, very clearly enjoying himself now. I take a step forward and twist his arm behind his back. "Come on, Jim. It's time for bed. You've got important things to do in the morning." I push him into a walk and he stumbles a little.

"Oh come on, Ollie. Let's go out and have some more fun together!" He says and I shake my head.

"You'll thank us later." I say with a chuckle. "I don't know how you managed to get away from Tro, she usually has a pretty good grip on you." We arrive at their door. "Now type in your pass code." He obeys. "To bed, young man."

"Yes ma'am." He salutes me before he goes to his room, stripping as he goes. I turn away with a roll of my eyes. McCoy shakes his head.

"He's your problem now." Tro says as she links her arm with mine and we head into our own room. "You doing okay?"

"I'm good." I smile at her. "McCoy is pretty funny when he's had a couple of drinks." I need to quit thinking about that. "You want first shower?"

"Go ahead, I need to submit an assignment." She says as she goes into her room. I grab my things and head into our shared bathroom. I don't take my usual luxurious shower since I know she has to be up early. She looks a little shocked when I exit the bathroom. "So are you going to take Dad's advice about chilling out on the PT?"

"I'm going to tone it back a little bit, but I have to get in shape. Once I do that, I'll get hurt a lot less." I say and she gives a small smile.

"Just don't completely overdo it." She says and I wave away that concern. "You've got time to get your ass in shape. You don't need to do it in the first four months."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, it's easier to keep up with staying in shape than it is to get in shape." I say and she gives me that one. "It's different for you because you didn't arrive here weak."

"You're not a slouch, Ollie. That month and a half of training made a pretty big different." She says and I shrug.

"I'm a quick study." I say and then I yawn. "I'll see you in the morning." She blows me a kiss and I go into my room and crawl into bed. For whatever reason, my mind travels back to the compliment that McCoy gave me…

* * *

"He was right." I say as I rest my head on my arms. "I've shouldered entirely too much. I can't do this."

"Now wait just a minute. Who was right?" McCoy asks and I look up at him. He looks kind of annoyed. "This doesn't sound like the Olivia I know at all."

"One of my instructors approached me with concern that my schedule was too full. I assured him that it wouldn't be a problem, but…" I take a steadying breath. "I don't know what to do."

"First of all," He starts, almost sounding stern. "you don't let anybody tell you what you can or can't do. You came here to get away from that. Second of all, you just need to find your stride. You can handle all of this and so much more. How'd you manage all of your studyin' in college?"

"I pretty much did what I do now." I say, trying to bring myself back from the anxiety. "I had some different coping mechanisms then and I wasn't training like I am now." When I wasn't drinking, studying did a good job of keeping my mind off of the hell I was living. Really, how the hell did I do any of what I did accomplish?

"That's your last assignment for the weekend, right? Finish that up and then take tomorrow off to regroup and then come back at it fresh on Sunday." He says and I purse my lips. "You could use the sleep. You plannin' on doing some travelin'?"

"That's rude." I say and he looks pleased with himself. I roll my eyes. "What would your mother think?"

"She'd be more worried about gettin' you put in bed then she'd be in me bein' rude, I'll tell ya that much." He says and I shake my head. "Come on, let's go get somethin' to eat."

"Food does sound good." I allow, but then I give him a sly look. "But don't you need to keep learning about Space Madness?" He gives me a very dry look. I pack up my things and we head towards the exit. In the past couple of weeks, I've been doing a horrible job of remembering that I am a human who requires food to function…but I guess stress does that to me. I jump and gasp as someone throws an arm around my shoulders. I'm tense, but then I try to relax as I realize that it's just Jim.

"Where are the two of you headed off? I thought you'd be in there studying all night pretty much." He says and I shrug out from under his arm.

"We're getting food. Would you like to join us?" I ask and he shrugs. "What brings you to the library, Mr. Natural Talent?"

"I came to try and convince the two of you to come out tonight." He says and I immediately shake my head. "Come on, Ollie. You need to let loose and live a little."

"No thanks, I tried that once, wasn't really my thing." I say even though that's not entirely true. I liked going out, probably a little too much. He was nicer to me when we were around friends. He tries a puppy dog look. "James, I don't drink." He raises an eyebrow. "Why is that so weird?"

"You don't look like the sort of girl who wouldn't be into going out every now and again." He says and I smile patiently.

"What can I say? You have more than enough fun for the both of us in that regard." I say and then I shake my head. "And I have fun other ways."

"Okay, Ollie, you've left me no choice. What are we doing tonight?" His arm is back around my shoulders. "Show me how you have fun and maybe I'll lay off."

"Not likely." I say with a laugh. "But alright, I'll see what Tro is doing, but what about a movie and game night? Pizza and snacks. The best part? No social protocol that requires me to put effort into my appearance. I can be as pretty or as ugly as I want to be, but I won't emotionally scar you."

"Not likely." He says with a laugh. "But that has potential. Alright, but be careful. If I have too much fun, this may have to be a weekly thing." I shake my head.

"Contrary to what you think, I do enjoy spending time with you." I say and smile my thanks to McCoy as he holds the door open for me. We hop in line. "We just have different lifestyles."

"So what movies do you want to watch?" He asks and I hum as I think about it. What am I in the mood for?

"I'm in the mood for a serial killer documentary, but I won't put you through that. So maybe an action movie. Lots of swearing and explosions." I say and he laughs.

"That's quite the spectrum." He says and I shrug. "You seem like you're in a particularly good mood."

"Trying." I say with a shrug. He gives me a look. "You won't get me to spill my secrets. My will and attention span are greater than yours."

"Sure thing." He says with a roll of his eyes. "How's that advanced combat training going for ya?" He asks around a bite of mashed potatoes.

"That's actually going pretty well." I give a small smile. It's the truth and that makes me feel a little better. "I could probably kick your ass if I wanted to."

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves here." He says with a smirk. "If you wanted to see my ass, all you had to do was ask." That has me laughing. "I'd want you on my side in the event of a fight."

"If I'm on your side, hopefully my training will prevent a fight in the first place." I say and he points at me.

"You'd be the mediator I'd want on my ship." He says and I smile. As far as I know, a few months ago he had no dreams of going anywhere. So hearing him talk like that is nice.

"I'll need to make it through the academy first." I say and I see as he puts two and two together. I see when it clicks. "Shut up, I'm fine."

"No she's not." McCoy says and I shoot him a look. The traitor. "With quitter talk, you need Jim to talk sense into ya."

"Ollie." Jim says, giving me a look. "Quitter talk? Does Sully know about this?" He asks and I sigh. Of course she doesn't, I've been doing a good job of hiding how overwhelmed I am until today.

"This is the last time I tell you a secret, McCoy." I say and he shrugs. "She doesn't, but I'm not quitting…I'm overwhelmed, but I'm not going down without a fight." I look down at my hands. "But sometimes no matter how hard you fight, you can't win."

"You see? That's not a thing. There's no such thing as a no-win scenario." He says and then he reaches over and places a hand on my shoulder. "You've got this, Ollie."

* * *

"Hey Gray, wait up!" Nyoya Uhura calls as she catches up with me. "There's something I needed to talk to you about."

"Can we walk and talk? I need to get to the gym." I adjust the strap on my bag to sit more comfortable on my shoulder.

"Sure thing. So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to start a small study group or something." She says and I raise an eyebrow. "Commander Spock's class is a bit intense and I believe that we would both benefit from seeing different perspectives."

"That sounds like a great idea." I say, trying to think of how I could make it work. "Just let me know when you want to study and I'll try to work it into my schedule."

"I know that you're super busy, so just let me know when works the best for you." She says and I smile.

"That's perfect. I'll get back to you once I have a chance to sit down and look at my schedule." I say and she smiles.

"Sounds great, I'll see you around." She breaks off. I make it outside and head towards the gym. As I reach for the handle, someone steps in front of it. I look up and see that it's McCoy, staring me down with an unimpressed look on his face. He's not in uniform.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure, Dr. McCoy?" I ask sarcastically. I take a step back so that at least we're having this conversation not in anyone's way.

"What's it gonna take for me to get you to take a day off?" He asks and I make a show of thinking about it. "Oh you think you're so cute. Come with me. I'm not your friend. I'm your doctor right now."

"So what? You're an expert on my schedule now? What if this is a requirement?" I ask, very annoyed now .I've been taking it super easy lately.

"I know for a fact you don't have any other classes." He says and I put my hands on my hips. "You're comin' with me, Darlin'. Whether you like it or not."

"Oh I'd like to see you try." I say and he raises his eyebrows before he throws me over his shoulder. "Leonard McCoy, you absolute toad, put me down this instant!" I shout.

"Doctor's orders. You're comin' with me." He says as he begins walking, surprisingly doing well even though I'm struggling.

"This is why I need to turn my body into a deadly killing machine." I say as I give up struggling and rest my chin in my hand.

"You're terrifying. Does that make ya feel any better?" He asks and I roll my eyes. He walks into the clinic and sets me down in a chair. "Behave." He goes over and grabs a bag from one of the drawers before he deposits it into my lap. "I was instructed that you are to change into that and then I'm to escort you to an undisclosed location."

"You sound so official." I say as I stand up and go into one of the exam rooms. I shut the curtain. "This has Troian Sullivan written all over it."

"Don't give her all of the credit. You're also friends with Jim Kirk." He says and I begin trying to think of what this is about. The clothes I was given are nice…a dress and some modest heels. I fold my uniform and tuck it into my bag. I open the curtain and step towards the sink. "You can stash your bag here, let's get movin'." I give him a look.

"Don't be pushy. I have half a right mind to report you for harassment." I say as I take my hair down and fix it. Not that it looked terrible before, but it's a habit. "Where are we going anyway?" I ask as I twirl some of my curls around my finger to help reshape them. I look at my reflection before I look at him expectantly.

'I'm not at liberty to say." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. He comes over and takes my bag from me and stashes it. "Come on." I offer a wave to Dr. Lee before I follow McCoy out of the clinic. I grab his wrist and pull him to a stop. "It's best if ya don't argue. I'd rather not carry ya again."

"If I am disrupting my routine, I would like to know why." I say and he looks at me seriously for a moment before he looks very amused. "What's so funny?"

"You mean to tell me that you forgot your own birthday?" He asks and I pull his wrist closer so I can see the date on his watch. He's cracking up now. "And I thought I was bad!"

"Screw you! I'm a busy woman." I say, unable to stop the pout from working its way onto my face. "It's not something I even want to celebrate anyway. How'd Tro find out? I don't remember telling her my birthday."

"No clue. So let's just go, okay? They're waitin' on us." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "Sullivan and Jim. The four of us are havin' dinner somewhere. What?" I'm starting to feel emotional.

"Nothing. Let's go." I say and then I'm the one leading. He falls into step with me. We arrive at a care that had apparently been waiting for us. I sigh as the driver starts going without us even having to say anything.

"You're a little young to be wantin' to ignore birthdays, aren't ya? You're nowhere near thirty yet." He says and I shake my head.

"I don't care about that. I just…everyone has always had these expectations for what I should want to do for my birthday. It shouldn't just feel like a day where I have to put on a pretty dress and smile. I'm good at it, but it doesn't feel genuine to me." I say as I watch the streetlights we pass. "Even with it being my birthday, I would have been content with just hanging out back in my room. Maybe grab ice cream or something." I shrug. "I don't know…I've never been able to make my own choices before and so I guess this kind of freaked me out."

"I didn't realize that it would. I'm sorry." He says and I look at him. I offer an understanding smile.

"It's really a sweet gesture and I appreciate that she went through the trouble of finding out and then coordinating with you and Jim. You guys are really good to me." I say and then I sigh again. "But if you throw me over your shoulder like that again, I'll kick your ass."

"Noted." He says and then the car pulls up to a nice-looking restaurant. It's a little more low key than the one I met Big Sul at, which I appreciate. We head inside and we're taken to a table where Tro and Jim are seated, talking.

"I had my doubts that he would get you here, but I'm impressed." She says as she folds her hands under her chin and smiles devilishly at me. "Happy birthday, Ollie."

"Ollie-pop!" Jim says as he stands up and gives me a big hug. "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday? I would have planned something much bigger and more extravagant."

"That's why she didn't tell you." Tro says with a laugh. McCoy pulls out a chair for me and I smile my thanks.

"She actually forgot it was her birthday." He says and I shoot him a look. "Nobody should make themselves that busy."

"I didn't tell anyone. I don't even know how you found out, Tro." I say as I narrow my eyes at her.

"I have my ways." She says and her eyes briefly flick to McCoy. I look between them before my glare settles on him.

"You told her it was my birthday." I say and he opens his mouth, no doubt to deny it. "You have access to my medical records, which obviously includes my date of birth. Sure she could have pulled some strings and had Big Sul find out, but why do that when there's a friend who also happens to be my doctor?"

"Fine. We're your friends and we wanted to make sure you knew that you were important to us." He says and I sigh. "If you knew my birthday, I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

"Now I'm going to have to find out your birthday." I say and then I shake my head. "You guys don't have to surprise me for me to know that I'm important to you. My birthday is no big deal."

"No big deal? Ollie. Without this day, you wouldn't exist for me to pester and you know how much I love pestering you." He says and I sigh heavily to try and hide the laugh. "Admit it, you love when I pester you."

"I tolerate it." I say and he grins. "But we both know you live to pester Tro." He puts a hand over his heart and tries to look innocent.

"Right." She says dryly and then she shakes her head. "Anyway, order whatever you want. Tonight is all about you. I think you're really going to enjoy it."

"Now I don't trust you." I say, giving her a wary look. "First you have McCoy carry me off like I'm a damn sack of potatoes and now you're saying that I'm 'really going to enjoy it'….what am I going to enjoy?"

"You'll see after dinner." She says evenly. I narrow my eyes at her and then I look around, trying to find clues in my surroundings. "Back up, like a sack of potatoes? That was all him."

"She wasn't going to come willingly. I didn't want to be late. I don't have to explain myself to you." He says defensively and I laugh.

"Anyway, I didn't have time to find the perfect birthday present for you, so be prepared for Christmas." Tro says and I sigh.

"No gifts. Period. The only thing I need is for you guys to keep being great friends to me. Honestly. That's enough." I say and she smiles.

"That was really sweet." She says in a tone I don't trust. "I may even listen to you." I know for a fact she won't. I have fun in spite of myself at dinner, but my nerves come back as Jim takes the lead.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking to McCoy. Hopefully since I confided in him he'll have mercy on me.

"Normally I would say that you were right for not trusting him…but for once, it's not as bad as you think." Tro says and that brings the anxiety down a little bit. McCoy nods.

"So when I found out it was your birthday, I found myself thinking. What does Ollie love the most in this world? While it may not be a hundred percent accurate because I still have a lot to learn about you, I know that you really love music. So I found this place." Jim says and then he opens a door and jazz music comes flooding out. I feel the smile grow on my face as I enter. I walk down the hall and immediately I see a dance floor with several couples. Jim takes my hand and we meld in with everyone else perfectly. Nobody is doing the same dance, but it's a perfect sort of chaos that I don't mind. Jim spins me out and I bump into someone and nearly fall over. Hands grab my elbows so I don't fall and I look up to see that it's McCoy. I laugh.

"Sorry about that. My partner threw me away." I say and he spins me around and we start dancing.

"Well your partner was an idiot. You're a great dancer, Darlin'." He says and I feel my cheeks heat up ever so slightly.

"You're not so bad yourself, McCoy." I say and he shrugs. We dance until the band stops to take a break. We find a table and sit down. "This isn't as bad as I was worried it might be."

"I reminded them several times to remember who we were plannin' it for." He says and I smile. "I hope next year you at least entertain the idea of choosin' to allow us to treat you again."

"I'd always choose to spend the time with you…guys." I don't know why I paused before I said that.

"A soda for the lady." Tro says as she sets a drink in front of me. I thankfully take a sip. "Happy birthday, Ollie. I really hope that you're having a good time."

"The best, actually." I say as I look between the three of them. "Thank you…even though this wasn't necessary at all."

"I'm just glad I found a place you actually like." Jim says and I stick my tongue out at him. "As much as I love our movie nights…"

"I know. I know." I wave him off. "Every now and again it might be alright. I forgot how much I actually like dancing."

"Success." Tro says as she high gives Jim. "You've been a hermit between PT and studying. Normally I wouldn't care, but you deserve to do some physical activity that doesn't specifically have a purpose. Jim has undergone a severe dry spell the past couple of weeks trying to find the perfect spot. A place with music good enough to not need alcohol to enjoy it."

"Jim, you gave up sleeping around for me?" I ask with a laugh. "If that isn't the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me."

"Yeah, yeah." He says, rolling his eyes. "Anything for you, Ollie. I mean it. You're kind of stuck with me now. I'm too attached."

"Okay, Jim." I say, giving him a placating smile. In spite of getting freaked out, I don't entirely hate how this evening has turned out. "But how do you know that I'm not stuck with you? That you're really just stuck with me and you've yet to realize the nightmare."

"I know you're kidding, but when you say it like that, you sound a little scary." He says and I give an evil laugh.

"Poor kid, doesn't realize when he's in over his head." Tro says with a wink towards me. "I call next dance with you. We've got to show these assholes how it's done."

"Trollie style." I say as I fist bump her. In spite of myself though, I really would like to dance with McCoy some more, which is more reason why I should only dance with Tro.


	3. Such a Sweetheart

_Welcome to the third chapter! This is another re-upload to satisfy my perfectionism! There are some minor changes, but it's the same drill where it doesn't impact the over all story. Enjoy!_

* * *

"You look like crap, Gray." Uhura says and I roll my eyes at that. "Seriously, you should consider taking it easy." We're practicing our Andorian as well as studying for a test in Commander Spock's Advanced Phonology class.

"I've been taking it easy, but it feels important to get this training done now so that I can maintain it. That makes the most sense in my mind." I say with a shrug before I close out of the textbook we'd been studying from.

"That makes sense, but there is such things as too much of a good thing." She says and I smile. "You're no good to me dead." That part was in Standard. "Aside from the studying, this has actually been pretty fun."

"Who knew that I could actually be a little fun?" I ask with a wink and we laugh. "Study group was a good idea…I feel like I'm more than just treading water."

"Good. So we're good to meet up again Wednesday before the test?" She asks and I hum as I pack my things away.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." I say and she waves before she walks off. Jim walks up. "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say." He says defensively and I shush him. This is a library after all. "Come on, Ollie." I give him a look.

"You want to know what her first name is." I say and he pouts. "I have no problem with keeping it from you, because it amuses me that there are three women who won't give you the time of day and it kills you that she's one of them." I see him counting before he nods, allowing it.

"Okay, but I thought we were best friends! I didn't tell Bones about your incident when I saw him a little while ago." He says and I smile sweetly.

"My dear boy, it is only a matter of time before he finds out. I imagine he'll begin yelling at me here shortly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my daily jog." I pat his cheek before I head out of the library and to the gym. I locate my locker, change into my athletic leggings and a long-sleeved shirt, and start on my general route around campus. When I first started training with Ashford Morgan there were two things that he started me on to stop with the drinking. Daily yoga and when I started to feel like I needed a drink, I had to run. While I do enjoy yoga for brining my mind into focusing on directly what's in front of me, running turned into my favorite because of the added benefit of building up my stamina. It also gives me an opportunity to think. Currently, Christmas is occupying my thoughts. All of my friends are returning home to visit family for Christmas. Of course Troian invited me to come to Iowa with them, but the idea of being that close to my family scares me. I've kept quiet about this apprehension I have to being without my friends, but I'm pretty sure that they've been compensating for the fact that they're leaving by the amount of times we've been to the jazz club. I know that they're only going to be gone a couple of weeks and I know it's not realistic to think that I'd never have to be totally alone with my thoughts. McCoy is going to get to see his daughter and Jim is actually going to see his mom. Those are more important things.

"Gray!" Someone shouts and it scares me. I duck away from a hand reaching for my elbow. I roll away and spring up into an easily defensible stance. "Sorry, I called your name four times." McCoy says and I let out a breath as I stand upright. "The hell were you so consumed with that you ignored me like that?"

"I was in the zone. That runner's high and what not. What did you need?" I ask as I fold my hands behind my head to help regulate my breathing.

"What did I need?" He asks, giving an incredulous laugh. "You think you're real cute, don't ya? Runnin' around like that with a cuboid stress fracture. I oughta confine you to bed rest."

"I feel like we've talked about the cute thing before. But what would I need bed rest for? Dr. Lee took very good care of me." I say and he opens his mouth, but I cut him off. "We didn't need to call you out of class for something so small."

"Technically that's true. But you're gonna stop runnin' for the day because you need to give that an appropriate amount of time to set and heal." His accent is a little stronger since he's annoyed with me and honestly, I like it more than I should. It's pretty cute. "Second, my mother has invited you to spend Christmas with us in Georgia. You've got four states between there and Illinois."

"Come again?" I ask. Surely I heard that wrong…Mrs. McCoy inviting a complete stranger to spend Christmas with her family?

"Come to Georgia with me for Christmas." He says and stupid butterflies fill my stomach. "I know that Starfleet is home for ya, but it'd be nice if you came."

"I really don't want to intrude." I say and he gives me a long look. "What!? That's your family's home and I'm just some weird girl you met while you were trying to get off Earth."

"You are not just some weird girl." He says with a roll of his eyes. "And if you really don't wanna come, you get to call and tell her that." One thing I've heard about his mother is that you don't win an argument with her.

"Fine. I'll go to Georgia with you, but we'll need to push back departure time. I've got a test." I say and he nods.

"We can do that." He agrees and then he gives me a pointed look. "Now, I'm gonna walk ya back to the locker rooms and you're gonna get off that foot."

"Fine, but it's fine. I'm sure you know that because you've gone over the scans with a fine-tooth comb to find a place where Dr. Lee did something wrong." I say as I begin walking back towards the locker room.

"No I did not." He says defensively. "At least it wasn't Forbey who was on duty." I hum my agreement. I would have called McCoy out of class had he been. I had the option. "Why didn't you call me out?"

"Because, as glad as I am that you're my doctor, you still have your own studies to worry about. If there is another doctor on hand whom I trust, then I'm not going to call you away from your studies." I glance at him. 'I'm sorry if it offended you, that wasn't my intention." We reach the locker rooms. "You don't have to wait, I promise I'll behave myself." I wink at him before I go in. Since I got pretty sweaty, I take a shower before I dress in my uniform. As I leave the women's locker room, I hate how I look for him. I hate it, but I am glad when I see him sitting on one of the benches by the door, legs crossed and reading over something on his padd. I cross through the gym, smiling greetings to the acquaintances I've made since coming here and stand before my friend. "I thought I told you that you didn't have to wait."

"Yeah? Well call me a sweetheart. I wanted to make sure ya made it back alright." He says as he stands up. I can't help but laugh. Sweetheart isn't the first thought to come to mind with him.

"You are a sweetheart, aren't you? In your own way." I reach up and pinch his cheek lightly. He brushes my hand away. "Come on." I head out the door and he follows. I'm quiet for a short while, but then I look up at him. "So I didn't realize that you talked to your mom about me."

"She asks about the people I spend time with, and we spend quite a bit of time together." He says and I shrug. "She likes your spunk."

"What exactly have you told her about me?" I ask, feeling a little anxious about the information they might already have on me.

"Relax, I just told 'em that your folks weren't supportive of your choice to come here. They don't know about Marcus." He says and that alleviates it a little bit. "She didn't want ya spendin' Christmas by yourself and frankly, I agree with her." I smile a little. "They wouldn't hold anything against ya if they did know about him though."

"I don't want being a survivor of domestic violence to be my identity. I just want to focus on moving forward and trying to forget that part of my life happened. As far as I'm concerned, my life began in June." I take a breath. "I'm never going to be that girl again."

"I know you won't." He says, sounding different from usual. He almost sounds tender? "I admire your strength. You didn't just come to Starfleet to run off. You came to make somethin' of yourself."

"Well…in running I have the added bonus of making something of myself. It's not as noble as you make it sound, but thanks McCoy." I say with a smile. We arrive at the dorms and my tricorder chirps. "Tro?"

"Hey, is there any way you could put off coming back for like an hour?" She asks and then she gasps. "Maybe two."

"Jeez. Yeah. Be safe." I say with a shake of my head and then I look up at McCoy with a 'yikes' expression.

"Come on." He says and then he leads the way down the hall to he and Jim's room. He punches in his code and the door opens "Sit down and get that boot off."

"Sir." I say with a salute as I do as I'm told and prop my foot up before I take out my padd and begin studying my notes. I don't look up as he sets a cold compress on my foot.

"Before you get too absorbed into that, I asked around and found something that might help with that scarring you're self-conscious about." He says and then he hands me a small jar.

"You didn't have to do that…" I say softly as I read the label. "Thanks." I place it in my bag.

"Yeah? Well, I know if bothers you. So I may as well help a friend out." He says as he sits and begins reviewing his own notes.

* * *

Nervousness is the dominant feeling in the pit of my stomach as we get out of the cab. Leonard McCoy grew up in a beautiful home in the country with lots of land and a winding driveway lined with trees. McCoy grabs the bags from the trunk and he has that small, satisfied smirk on his face.

"The only reason I'm not fighting you right now is because you caused actual bodily harm from gentleman-ing too hard." I say and he shrugs, smirking growing as we walk up. There is part of me that feels kind of confident because I look really nice. Apparently, Barbara has been doing some shopping for Troian and I and she has pretty good taste. Some of the stuff I will probably never wear, but I appreciate that she thought of me. The clothes that I do feel okay wearing came with me here.

"Daddy!" A little girl who McCoy couldn't deny if he wanted to shrieks as she comes running out of the house. He drops the bags and meets her half way, hugging her hard as she crashes into him. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Sweetheart." He says and I hear the slight waver in his voice. I step forward and pick up the bags.

"Daddy's gonna get mad at you for carryin' the bags." Joanna says and I offer her a shrug and a wink. "He says that men should do things for ladies."

"I've been trying to teach him that ladies can do whatever a man can do." I say and she giggles, burying her face in her father's neck. He stands up and gives me a look, but he's too happy to have his daughter with him to give me too much grief.

"It's not a matter of me thinkin' you can't do it." He says and I shrug as we climb the steps. An older woman opens the door and walks out. "Momma, this is Olivia Gray. Olivia, this is my mother, Lucille." McCoy introduces me and I set the bags down and offer my hand. She has a gentle handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McCoy. Your home is lovely." I say and she smiles brightly.

"The pleasure is all mine and thank you very much." She says and then she spots the bruise on my arm. "Leonard mentioned you were in combat classes."

"Oh, that is from where Leonard was too aggressive in his attempts to be a Southern gentleman." I say and she gives her son a look.

"Excuse me? I was too aggressive? You were the one jumpin' around like a spider monkey." He says, causing Joanna to laugh.

"Regardless of who was at fault," Mrs. McCoy says, deciding that she's more amused than she is disappointed in her son. "Joanna, why don't you help your daddy show Olivia to her room?"

"I would love to!" She exclaims as she wiggles out of his arms and picks up my bag. She has to use both hands to lift it.

"Oh, I can get that Sweetie. Why don't you just show me the way?" I suggest as I move forward to help her. She looks hurt. "Or why don't we try carrying it together?" She narrows her eyes at me for a moment, looking exactly like McCoy.

"Alright." She agrees finally and I smile and take hold of one of the handles with her. "Keep up, Daddy!"

"I'm right behind ya." He says and she giggles. We negotiate the stairs very carefully and finally we make it to the room I'll be staying in. "Go help your grandmother with lunch."

"Yes, Daddy." She says and he gives her another hug before she heads out of the room. He turns to me and I smile.

"Well, if I ever wondered what you would look like as a girl." I say and he smiles a proud, fatherly smile. "But if you sent her off to berate me for carrying things…"

"That's not it. I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He says and that makes my stomach do a nervous flip.

"I'm fine." I say honestly. "The holidays weren't exactly a happy affair before, so there's that latent nervousness, but I'm sure strangers wouldn't treat me the way they did. So I'm going to be fine." I offer a reassuring smile.

"Well if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I know I kinda brought you out of your element." He says and I toss my hair.

"Everything is my element. I am the master of all situations." I say and he rolls his eyes at that.

"Yeah? Well, I'll admit you negotiated with Joanna very well." He says and I smile. "How'd you come up with that?"

"She's eight? That's around the age I started to want more independence. So I thought it would be a good idea to offer teamwork as compromise. Tro snuck more things into my bag than I realized." I say and he nods.

"Poor kid doesn't have a chance of not bein' stubborn as hell." He says and I smile. "I'm gonna set my bag down."

"I'm fine, McCoy." I say firmly. "You don't have to worry about babysitting me while we're here." He rolls his eyes before he walks out and goes to his own room. I take off my jacket and I give a little sigh as the scar comes slightly into view. It's gotten a little lighter since I've started using that salve McCoy gave me, but it still serves as a reminder, as if I needed one. I take my hair out of the braid that I'd had it in while we were travelling and I braid my bangs back before I situate the rest of the length to cover it up. It works pretty well. McCoy knocks on the door frame and I look over at him.

"You ready?" He asks and I nod and follow him out of the room. "Quit stressin' out about that scar."

"Don't tell me what to do." I say with a huff. I follow him downstairs and to the dining room. He pulls out a chair for both Joanna and I.

"Thank you, Daddy!" She chirps as she sits down in one of the chairs. The man who is obviously McCoy's father comes in.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss. Olivia." He says as he offers his hand to me. I shake it. "Thomas McCoy."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." I say and then I sit down in the chair McCoy pulled out for me. "Thank you, Leonard." He takes the seat between Joanna and I.

"Why don't you tell us a little about what you're doin' at Starfleet?" Thomas asks and that surprises me. I figured McCoy must have told them about what I do.

"I'm actually in a program they just started offering this semester. Mediation. It's kind of like a mix between xenolinguistics and sort of security? They want us to be able to handle situations that may occur on away team missions should things not be negotiated peacefully." I chose my words carefully so I don't startle Joanna. She doesn't need to hear about the kind of combat training I have to go through.

"So you've always been a fan of double majoring." Thomas says with an amused chuckle. "Excuse me, Leonard's told us a lot about you."

"You're smart, pretty, and you can kick some rear." Lucille says and that makes my cheeks flush.

"Thank you." I say and we continue through lunch, maintaining light conversation. I relax a little bit as I get to know his parents better. Once we're finished, Lucille begins clearing the table. "Please let me help, Mrs. McCoy." I say as I start gathering dishes as well.

"I help Mamaw, Miss Olivia!" Joanna says as she gets up and takes the plates from me. I take a step back.

"Well, if you insist." I say and McCoy looks amused as he nods towards the living room. We join his father in there.

"Why is it that you listen to my daughter more than you listen to me, your own doctor?" He asks as we sit down. I roll my eyes.

"You're still upset because I let Dr. Lee treat my injury. I'm aware that you're my doctor, Leonard." I say and he raises an eyebrow. "I listen to you far more often than I don't."

"Not nearly enough for me bein' your doctor." He says and I shake my head. "This girl fractured her foot and then insisted on runnin' on it the next day."

"It was a teeny tiny fracture on a teeny tiny bone in my foot and it was treated by another very capable doctor." I say and Thomas shakes his head.

"Some things never change. Leonard's never taken kindly to havin' his toes stepped on as a doctor." He says and I shake my head. "I hope that it's feelin' much better now."

"It is, thank you." I say with a smile. Joanna comes up and hops into my lap then. "Well hello there, how may I help you, Miss Joanna?"

"What's that mark right there?" She asks, moving my hair out of the way. My stomach drops I open my mouth to respond, but I don't know what to say. I hate that I don't know what to say.

"Joanna." McCoy says, the reprimand is on his tone. He pulls her onto his own lap. No, she shouldn't be in trouble for that. It's normal to be curious.

"I'm sorry." She says, her eyes wide as she looks at me. I come out of my shock and I place a reassuring smile on my face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for but thank you for apologizing." I say and she relaxes. "There was an accident, but it doesn't hurt anymore. It'll fade eventually." I try to reign back in the anxiety.

"Joanna, your momma called. She'll be here soon." Lucille says as she comes into the living room. The little girl clings to her father.

"You'll be back the day after tomorrow, Sweetheart." He says as he rubs her back soothingly. "We'll have a ton of time then."

"Miss Olivia too?" She asks, reaching out a hand to me. Instinctively, I reach out and take it. This may have been a bad move, I don't want her to get the wrong idea about my relationship with her father…even though I've realized that I do like him.

"I'm sure she'd love to play." He says and I nod, smiling. From what he's told me, I'm glad that she seems to have her own temperament as opposed to either her mother's harpy-like behavior or McCoy's ever-optimistic attitude.

"Of course I would. And I'll let you in on a little secret." I say and her eyes widen. I lean in a little closer. "All of my really good friends call me Ollie, so you can too."

"Okay." She says, her eyes brightening, but then I see the gears working in her head. "If your really good friends call you Ollie, why doesn't Daddy?"

"He has his own nickname for me. Didn't you know your daddy was silly?" I ask and she giggles. "But he does sometimes, when I'm not annoying him."

"I'm sure you don't annoy him." She says and I smile. Then I hear the sounds of a car outside.

"Would you look at that? That brother of yours isn't late for once in his life." Lucille says as she looks out the window.

"Oh joy." McCoy says as he stands up and looks out the window, balancing Joanna on his hip. She closes her eyes and rests her head against his shoulder. "Rachel's right behind him." I rub my arms before I stand up.

"Excuse me." I say as I head up the stairs. It's perfectly acceptable to be cold and to want my jacket. I am definitely not avoiding meeting the ex-wife of the guy I have a stupid crush on. I'm sure he isn't interested in me that way, but most people would assume that since he brought me here, there must be something going on romantically. But men and women can be just friends. There's a knock on the door frame and I look over as I pull my jacket on. "Yes?" I ask and then I glower at the amused smirk on his face. "Don't start on me, McCoy."

"I'd hide from the harpy too." A man says as he walks past the room. He backtracks a couple of steps. "Oh yeah, that was a real good call. Andrew McCoy." I step forward and shake his hand.

"Olivia Gray, it's nice to meet you. I hope that you're not half as annoying as your brother." I say and he laughs.

"I'm the younger, more interesting McCoy. Leonard is kind of a wet blanket." He says, very obviously trying to impress me.

"What are you talking about? He's the life of the party at all the parties I go to at Starfleet." I say and he laughs again.

"That'd be funny if you actually went to parties, Darlin'." McCoy says and I smile up at him. He's got to know that I was joking. "Now come on, I need to give ya the grand tour."

"The grand tour? My goodness." I say and he rolls his eyes, gesturing me out. "It was nice meeting you, Andrew." I walk past him, then I hear the sound of a fist connecting with the fabric of a shirt.

"You too." Andrew says, laughing. McCoy essentially guides me down the stairs and out of the house.

"What's wrong?" I ask, lengthening my stride so that he's not pulling me along anymore. "Leonard." My tone is firm and I step into his path, putting out my arms in front of me to stop him. After a moment his angry expression becomes that amused smirk that usually pisses me off. "What's going on? I've never seen you act like this."

"The combination of my ex-wife and that little shit I call a brother put me in a bad mood." He says and I shake my head. "Sorry."

"It's fine." I say, smiling a little bit. "You know you can talk to me, right? I know I'm just a kid," I make a face at that word. "But I do have some life experience."

"Thank you." He says, patting my cheek. "Now, for the grand tour." He spins me around and we begin walking.

* * *

I'm awoken by my tricorder alerting me to a call. The clock on the dresser says that it's a little after four-thirty in the morning. Who on Earth?

"Hello?" I ask groggily as I answer, sitting up so that I don't just fall back asleep. I don't know why I'm so exhausted.

"Niki, Baby, it's me." Marcus says on the other end and all grogginess is gone. I'm on red alert.

"What do you want?" I demand, forcing all of the strength that I have built up to come out in my tone.

"I came to pick you up from your doctor friend's house." He says and I hear the sound of gravel in the background.

"Stay right where you are, I'll come to you. Okay?" I ask, changing my tone to sound more placating. "Alright? I'll be out in just a couple of minutes. Stay where you are? So I can find you better."

"That makes sense, I'll see you soon, Baby." He says and the line disconnects. I hop out of bed and pull on some clothes. I listen and I hear the snores, soft and loud, of the McCoy family sleeping. I can't let them get hurt because of me. There's no telling what Marcus might do…I carry my tennis shoes down stairs and once I get to the front door, I quietly open it and head out. I pull on the shoes quickly and jog across the drive way. I see him moving towards the house.

"Marcus, what are you doing? I thought you were going to wait for me." I say, trying to look happy to see him. Tears fill his eyes as he sees me and I walk over to him. "I'm here, it's okay." If I can pacify him, I might be able to get him to leave.

"Why'd you leave me, Niki?" He asks, stepping forward. He isn't poised to hit me. He's holding out his arms. If I pacify him, he might leave. I meet him and he wraps his arms around my middle.

"Baby, I wanted to follow my dreams." I say gently. "You and Daddy weren't letting me and I needed to do it."

"Well you proved yourself. Come home with me." He says and I shake my head. Pacify, don't fold.

"Marcus, I can't. I'm not finished with school." I say and then he's walking backwards until my back is pressed against the tree. "Marcus, please let go of me." He's angry now. This is not going to end well. "Please don't hurt me." I channel the weak Niki Gray into my tone. The pitiful girl that used to beg for mercy because sometimes he would listen.

"It's always about school, isn't it?" He asks in a dark tone. "You've gotta go to school. Nothing is more important than school. You got your degree, you said once you did we could have kids."

"I need school to follow my dreams, remember? You used to want that for me." I say and his face contorts into a sickened sneer. I slide out from between him and the tree. I give myself plenty of room. I see a flash of silver and my blood runs like ice through my veins. Don't panic, krav maga is specifically meant for defending myself in this kind of situation. And I've learned more. "Marcus, don't do this."

"You need to be reminded of your place." He says and that's when I decide that violence is my only option here. I lash out and disarm him. He's surprised by the attack, so he doesn't keep a grip. I need to incapacitate, so I need to keep attacking. I land a good hit before I catch his fist with my face. I taste blood. A punch to the stomach. He's so overwhelmingly strong. He picks me up by the shoulders and slams me into the tree. I can't stop the cry of pain as the air is forced from my longs. He holds me to the tree by my throat. I grip his one hand with both of mine. I don't have much time. I bring my knees to my chest and push him away. The pressure on my throat is released and I gasp. Tears are blurring my vision, but I need to fight. "Damn it, Niki!" He lunges for me and I elbow him in the face. He grabs my other arm with bruising force, but then someone grabs him by the shoulder and punches him out. I can't stand up anymore. I sti on my knees, struggling to breath.

"Olivia." Leonard says and I look up at him. He stoops down and effortlessly lifts me into his arms. "Andrew, call the sheriff. I'm going to tend to her injuries." I'm cradled against his chest as he strides angrily across the drive way. Thomas opens the door for us.

"I'm sorry." I say, cursing how hoarse my voice is as Leonard sets me down on the couch. "I don't know how he found me."

"Yeah? Well, I'd rather not talk about it until I've had a moment to calm down, Darlin'." He says and my mouth snaps hsut. "Now don't do that…" I close my eyes to try and stop the tears from coming. "Ollie."

"I'm sorry." I say, my voice an octave higher than it normally is. "I'm so sorry. I thought that…that if I just talked to him he'd go away, but then he got angry because I wasn't saying what he wanted to hear…and I didn't want any of this to happen." Then I'm being hugged.

"You should have woken me up, Darlin'." He says and I put my arms around him, trying to relax.

"I know." My voice is a whisper. "I'm sorry." I release him because I don't want to get blood on his shirt. He begins looking me over.

"That crazy son of a bitch had a knife." Andrew says as he steps inside. He looks at me then and I see the look of concern.

"Good thing disarming was covered in my initial training, huh?" I try to lighten the mood and Leonard lightly flicks my ear lobe. "Watch it, McCoy."

"I'd listen to her." Andrew says as he sets the knife down on the table by the door. "I'd better get out there before Pa shoots the bastard."

"Go grab the first aid kit first." Leonard says and Andrew does as he's asked without another word. "This is gonna sting a bit." I nod and allow him to gently take my chin so that he can move my head where he needs it. "Anything else I should check?"

"It feels like it's mostly just bruises. Probably no internal stuff since I know how to fight back now." I say as I close my eyes. "I'm really sor-"

"If you apologize one more time, Olivia." He says and I flinch. He lets out a breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." I say softly. He goes back to cleaning my lip. "Should I go back to the academy?"

"Absolutely not." He says immediately. I open my eyes. "We'd all miss ya. My mother already likes you more than me or Andrew."

"Just give it time." I say and he actually laughs which brings a small smile to my face. He finishes up with my lip and he takes my hands. My fists are scraped up.

"That's what I said and got smacked." He says and I shake my head. "You fought like hell, didn't you." It's not a question.

"I meant what I said. He is done telling me what to do and pushing me around. Both he and my father are done. Richard Gray told me that once I stepped across that state line I didn't have a home there anymore." I say and then I see Lucille.

"Well you're more than welcome here anytime, Sweetheart." She says as she walks over and takes a seat beside me. "Now, can you tell me what's goin' on?"

"Olivia's ex tracked her down and she tried to handle it on her own. But we handled it, didn't we?" He pats my cheek gently. "You need more sleep."

"Yes, Dr. McCoy." I say sarcastically with a roll of my eyes. He starts cleaning up my knuckles.

"I'm still tryin' to piece together how someone as tiny as you could do that much damage." Andrew says as he walks back in.

"My combat classes don't mess around." I say, keeping my eyes on my hands, they're shaking. "The self defense my tutor taught me before the academy is geared towards fighting dirty to get yourself out of the situation, so I use knees and elbows when I can. Boxing helps for weaving out of the way and for making me a smaller target and protecting from body shots."

"She's got one hell of a right hook." Leonard says and that makes me smile a little bit. "Especially considerin' how much you struggle to keep any weight on."

"Don't remind me." I sigh, exasperated. "I'm fighting like hell to pack as much muscle in here as I can, but I can only do so much."

"You do a good job of compensatin' with all that rage you got in ya. Like a…Pomeranian mied with a pit bull's bite." He says and I glower at him. "There it is."

"This Pomeranian is going to put you to sleep, McCoy." I say and Lucille chuckles…like I'd just said something cute.

"You hear her? She threatens me at least once a day. Twice on a bad one." He says and I try to contain my laughter. "She's worse than Jim with pickin' fights."

"You probably deserve it. You're ornery just like your daddy." She says, ruffling her eldest son's hair. "You're lucky she puts up with ya."

"We'll see about lucky." He says and I glower at him. "Put the pouty lip away, you're gonna make that split worse." I raise an eyebrow at him and he tilts my head to the side. "Good Lord." I sigh, closing my eyes against the tears that threaten to fall. I don't want to cry anymore. "The only reason I'm not goin' out there and kickin' his ass myself is because I know it would upset you. I hope you appreciate how much restraint I'm usin' here."

"You know I do." I say softly and then a slender arm goes around my shoulders and pulls me to her side. "I'm not sure if this is any worse than what it would've been had I stayed."

"You're better off." Lucille says as she rubs my arm. "You're too smart to be with someone who doesn't appreciate that and support the choices you wanna make." She pats my cheek gently. "Not to mention you're too pretty for that."

"Thank you." I say with a small smile. Her cool hand feels good on my face. I am so exhausted. I'm beginning to relax a little bit, so maybe I will be able to get some sleep…but then I see the lights of the sheriff's cruiser and I sigh.


	4. A Very McCoy Christmas

_Hello! So this is the last re-upload. This chapter has some more substantial changes, but it doesn't change the overall story. We just get some more background on Ollie and it makes some stuff in the future make more sense! I hope that you're enjoying the story so far!_

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Leonard holds the punching bag for me as I run through some of my drills. He said that if I insisted on not taking a break, he was going to watch me like a hawk to make sure I didn't hurt myself. He even did the thing where he pointed to his eyes and then to mine. It was pretty funny. I guess it doesn't really surprise me that the barn was partially converted into a sort of home gym. With two boys? Even with the age difference, Lucille must have been sick of them sometimes, especially with how artfully Andrew gets under Leonard's skin.

"Ease up, you're gonna open one of your knuckles up again." He says and I silently obey. "So I know you can defend yourself, what happened the other morning?"

"I was scared." I admit bitterly. "And I wasn't on top of my game, but that's not going to happen again." I spin into a kick. "I will not let it happen again." I sigh and adjust my stance before I start the drill over.

"Darlin', don't beat yourself up over it." He says and I shake my head. I am really disappointed in myself. The most appealing part about the mediation program was the combat. I should be able to defend myself.

"I was weak." I say and he gives me a disapproving look. "I've gone over it in my head a million times. I let my self be Niki."

"Would Niki have punched back?" He asks and that stops me short. "Would she have been able to get that knife away from him? I'm gonna answer no for you because of that scar. You weren't Niki. You were Olivia Gray and you defended yourself."

"Yeah? That's why I have the bruises on my neck?" I ask and he lets go of the bag and comes closer to me. He lifts my chin and takes a look at them.

"They're not as bad as you think they are." He says and then he puts his hands on my shoulders. "He may have got ya good, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. Stop beatin' yourself up. Now come on, it's almost lunch time." He leaves one hand on my shoulder to guide me as we turn to head out of the barn turned gym. Andrew stands up straight as we notice him. "What do you want?"

"Momma told me to come get the two of you, but I didn't want to interrupt anything." He says and Leonard's lip curls back in sort of sneer. Andrew knows how to get under his skin and it's hilarious.

"Come on." I say as I pull him into a walk. I release his hand quickly and take off the grappling gloves they have us wear as opposed to boxing gloves and I realize that I did open up one of my knuckles again. "Well dang."

"Come on." Leonard says with a roll of his eyes. He takes care of it before we sit down to lunch with his family. After a moment, Andrew clears his throat.

"So, I'm officially sure that you'd be able to kick my ass." He says and that makes me laugh. Lucille gives him a long look. "What, Momma? You watch her abuse the punching bag and then tell me you're not scared of her. I imagine poor Leonard is gonna have bruises too."

"He's not as squishy as you think, Andrew. We just have different physical requirements for our courses of study. Nine times out of then, he'll probably stay on the ship. They'll need all the good doctors onboard for if or when things go south for the away team." I say honestly.

"Which if they have you, my job should be a formality." Leonard says and I roll my eyes. "The royal you, meaning mediators. There aren't very many of you, so I imagine the likes of you specifically will be in high demand."

"Honestly, I hope I end up with Captain Pike. By the time we graduate he should be in command of the Enterprise. That's the ship they were working on at Riverside." I say and he nods. "She's beautiful. We're going to have to work on getting you over that aviophobia so that you can truly appreciate her."

"I don't need counseling. Ya dang head shrinker." He says, giving me a look and I smile sweetly at him.

"Leonard." Mrs. McCoy says and I can't help the slight giggle that escapes. "I don't know where this boy picked up those manners of his, but that is not how I raised him."

"Don't worry about it, I pick on him too. I don't know why he puts up with me." I say, which gets a laugh out of Andrew. "Jim and Troian are late for literally everything, so the two of us usually end up waiting for them and I get a little more sassy when I'm bored."

"A little?" Leonard asks and I do my best to look innocent. "You're not terrible company to keep."

"I think that might be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." I say and he rolls his eyes.

"I know for a fact he can do better than that." Andrew says which has Leonard giving him a dirty look. "You got up to a lot of trouble in medical school."

"Trouble in medical school? I might like to hear about that sometime, Andrew." I say and he grins.

"Andrew, leave your brother alone." Lucille says with a shake of her head. "You two are as bad as your father."

"I've been behavin' myself." Thomas says and that makes me laugh. "I tried to give ya a daughter."

"Younger sisters can be just as bad as younger brothers. Though usually mine wasn't too bothered by me. I did insist on practicing my nail painting skills on him." I say fondly. "Now that I think about it, we may have just had a weird relationship. I can't think of any sixteen-year-old boys who would let their eight-year-old sister paint their nails."

"Some boys have soft spots for their sisters." Lucille says just as fondly. "Thomas is one of them."

"She never made me let her paint my fingernails, but there's not much I wouldn't do for Abigail." He says and I smile. "I'm sure you don't make him let you do that now."

"I actually haven't seen him for a very long time." I say and it makes me a little sad, but I am careful not to show that. "He left home at eighteen and didn't look back. Not that I blame him. I was late on that call."

"I'm sure he'll turn up at some point." He says and I smile, but I doubt it. He probably hasn't thought about that part of his life. I wouldn't. As we finish up lunch, I don't ask to help. I just start doing it and Lucille gives me a look, but she doesn't say anything and we set to work on the dishes. She's washing them and I'm drying.

"How are you feeling?" She asks all of a sudden and I look at her. "With your injuries and emotionally."

"I'm doing well." I say with a small smile. "I was just talking with Leonard about how I'm disappointed in myself because I feel like I was weak…and he promptly reminded me that I wasn't. He's right, but I would never hear the end of it if I told him that."

"Your secret is safe with me." She says with a chuckle. "You're good for him…you keep him on his toes."

"It's fun." I say and she laughs. "I try not to let him focus on the impending sense of doom and he reminds me to take a step back when I start to feel overwhelmed. Between he, Troian, and Jim…they're really the best friends I could have asked for. You raised a great person."

"Why thank you." She says and we finish up with the dishes. "Why don't you go and sit down with the boys?"

"Alright." I say with a smile and then I go to the living room where the McCoy men are all sitting doing their own thing. Thomas has the television on and is watching some recap of a basketball game. Leonard and Andrew have their pads out, reading from them. I head upstairs and grab my own before I take a seat on the couch with Leonard. I've got some studying I can stand to do.

"How're you feelin'?" Leonard asks, offering a glance in my direction. "Anything causin' you trouble?"

"My throat's a little sore, but I'll be okay. No trouble." I say and he hums. "Very incisive, Doctor."

"The more time you spend with my mother, the sassier you get." He says and I smile sweetly at him.

"Your mother is great." I say and then I pull up my notes, but then I notice a bad play on the screen. "Oh come on, are you kidding me?"

"That boy threw himself on the ground like a toddler." Thomas agrees and then he looks at me. "You like basketball?"

"I grew up in the Midwest, of course I like basketball." I say with a smile. This must be some preseason stuff. "The high school I went to made us take physical education classes all four years and when we played basketball was always my favorite. If my father had let me, I probably would have joined the team. Coach always begged me to."

"That surprises me." Leonard says and I shoot him a look. "All I'm sayin' is that I don't imagine someone five-two bein' good at football."

"You don't have to be tall to be good at basketball. It helps, but it's not a requirement." I say and then I cross my legs. "Now hush and let me study these dialects."

"Uh huh, sure. That's your notes from those conversations with Uhura where you practice swear words in alien languages." He says and I sit up straighter.

"I'm studying Andorian. Maybe I'll convince one of them to give you Andorian shingles." I say and he narrows his eyes at me. "Be nice." I say in the language.

"Let the poor girl study, Leonard." Thomas says and I smile sweetly at my friend. He shakes his head at me.

"Yeah, quit pickin' on me." I say as I start reading. I see him roll his eyes before he goes back to his own reading.

* * *

I hear thunder in the distance, but I dribble the basketball and shoot from the established three-point mark. Andrew claps and Joanna giggles.

"Miss Ollie, is there anything you can't do?" She asks and I make a show of thinking about it.

"There's a lot I can't do, but I've always loved learning." I say and I catch the ball as Andrew passes it to me. "Come here and try it." I dribble the ball. She walks over and I pass it to her. She catches it and dribbles it a couple of times before she shoots it and misses. She looks disappointed. I jog over and stop the ball. "That's alright, it was a good shot. You can shoot from anywhere. There was a kid in my high school who could consistently make it from the half court mark."

"I'll bet he was a showoff. We had a guy like that when I played ball." Andrew says and I chuckle. It's true. "Did you know I was actually good, Sweet Stuff?" He's talking to Joanna now.

"I doubt you were THAT good." She says and I can't keep my amusement off of my face at that sass. "I'll bet Miss Ollie is a lot better than you are."

"That sounds like a bet to me." He says and she giggles. "Alright, if she's better than me, I have to take you for ice cream."

"And what do you get if she's not?" She asks, giving another one of her Leonard McCoy looks. I love how they're just assuming I'll go along with this.

"You won't have to worry about that." I say confidently and she looks up at me with stars in her eyes. I dribble the ball.

"Someone's a little sure of herself." He says and I shrug. "If she's not better than me, you've gotta treat me to ice cream."

"If you want Daddy to buy you ice cream, I'm sure all you gotta do is ask." She fires back at him and I don't stop myself from laughing this time.

"You're not going to get bored watching me beat your uncle?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Alright, Andrew, you heard the lady."

"Oh, I did." He says scooping her up and setting her on a box to watch us from. "Bring it on."

"Consider it brought." I say as I dribble the ball. "First to five?" He takes a drink from his bottle of water.

"Sounds good to me." He says and I check the ball to him. He bounces it back and we go. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a lot of fun. Joanna immediately takes on the roll of being my cheerleader. It ends up coming down to one point, but I'm able to juke him and I score the final basket. "There's a reason I didn't keep playin' in college. Well, a deal's a deal. I owe you ice cream, Miss Joanna."

"Yay! Miss Ollie, you were amazing!" She exclaims and then she jumps as there's a super loud crack of thunder.

"Your momma'll be here soon. We better get to the house." Andrew says and we head to the door just as the sky lets loose. I pick her up and cradle her to my body as I run, since I know for sure I'm faster than he is. We make it to the back porch and I set her down. Leonard comes out with two towels.

"Cut it a little close, didn't you?" He asks as he drapes one around Joanna's shoulders. She giggles.

"Miss Ollie runs super fast!" She exclaims. "And she's so much better at basketball than Uncle Andy! He owes me ice cream."

"Does he now?" He asks as he drapes a towel around my shoulders. I smile my thanks. "Should you have played basketball?"

"It feels good to be active. I also secured some ice cream for the little lady so I like to think of it as a win-win." I shrug.

"I think I was hustled." Andrew says and I roll my eyes. "You don't play like it's been five years since high school."

"I'm also in a little better shape than I was in high school. It's been a weird five years. But I'm going to get changed." I say and then I leave them on the porch. I reach the stairs.

"Ollie, wait a second." Leonard says and I turn to look at him. "Will you meet her?" I open my mouth and close it again.

"I…okay." I give up. I don't know why he wants me to meet her? "I am going to change now, I'm soaked." He nods and I head the rest of the way up the stairs and to my room where I close the door. I change into a pair of dry jeans and I opt for a black tank top underneath a green plaid button-up flannel. I roll the sleeves up and I dry my hair with the towel before I fix it. I look presentable at least. My bruises are hidden pretty well for the most part. As I open the door, Andrew is running into his room. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, there's a situation with one of the family's I've been helpin'. I'll be back." He says as he grabs something off of his bed and then he runs back downstairs. I head down the stairs as well and just as I reach the bottom, Rachel is walking into the house. Our eyes meet across the room and I can tell instantly that she does not like me.

"Hello." I smile brightly nonetheless. Maybe I'm just taking it that way because I'm nervous. "I'm Olivia Gray." I cross the room and offer my hand.

"Rachel Hampton." She says dismissively, still shaking my hand, but I can tell she's waving me off. "You're certainly young, aren't you?"

"I'll see if I can hunt McCoy down." I say, putting distance between Leonard and I by using his last name.

"And how did Leonard come to meet you?" She asks, obviously not too interested in collecting her daughter.

"Well, I am also a cadet at Starfleet Academy." I say as I look around the corner, they're not in the dining room. "We met when we were leaving out of Iowa for the academy. He made sure my eyeball didn't fall out and we've been friends since."

"I'm sure." She says sarcastically and I just smile at her. "Look, he and I may be divorced, but I'll let you in on a little somethi-"

"Rachel." Leonard says as he walks into the room, holding Joanna's hand. She catches sight of her daughter and momentarily I can see some of the warmth that may have made Leonard fall for her to begin with. "You'll bring her back on Christmas Eve?"

"As we discussed." She says and Joanna puts on her backpack before she hugs Leonard. He crouches down, holding her tight for a moment before he places kisses all over her face, causing her to giggle.

"Bye Miss Ollie, thank you for playing with me." She says as she walks over and hugs me. I return the hug with a small smile. "I hope your lip feels better."

"Thank you, Joanna." I say and she smiles up at me before she goes over to her mother. They head out and I let out a breath. "That woman did not like me the moment she saw me."

"She's jealous." He says a bit gruffly before he goes about straightening up. I've noticed that he does this whenever he's not sure what to do.

"She's the one who owns the whole damn planet." I say with a small smirk and he looks over and gives me a look. "What does she have to be jealous of?"

"First of all, I don't hate your guts." He says and I bite back a remark of him being quite fond of them since he's my doctor. "Second, you make that look feminine." I look down at my outfit and raise an eyebrow. "Doesn't help that you're prettier than her without tryin'. She's petty like that even though she looks fine."

"She said that I was young." I say and he rolls his eyes. "She did a good job of making it sound like an insult, but the mean ol' harpy didn't hurt my feelings." I take a seat on the couch and pull up some notes on my padd. "Also, I only went with this outfit because it was the second best casual thing I have at hiding the bruises. I didn't want to freak Joanna out. I hate that I froze up the other day. I hate not knowing what to do."

"I know you do." He says with a sigh as he sits down. "You're real good with her." I smile to myself.

"I like kids. It's really cool to watch them figure out the world around them." I say and then I look at him. "She's a great kid."

"She really is, isn't she?" He asks, the fond fatherly smile coming back onto his face. "Best thing to come out of that."

"Literally." I say and he shakes his head, chuckling a little bit. "She is undoubtedly the real McCoy."

"You've been sittin' on that one since you got here, haven't you?" He asks, he's trying not to laugh.

"What I've gathered is that McCoys generally have a good temperament…even that hot-headed brother of yours." I say and he shakes his head.

"What would ya think if I told ya that Andrew liked ya?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow. "He thinks romantically."

"Oh that? Your brother is many things, subtle is not one of them." I say and this amuses him as well. "It would never work out. He'll get to know me better and realize that I'm not worth all the trouble."

"He seems to think he could handle it." He says and I shake my head. "He's gonna try and trap ya under the mistletoe."

"So what you're telling me is that I need to find a room and stick to it at the grand McCoy Christmas party?" I ask and he hums.

"There's an idea. I could always smuggle ya some food." He says and I laugh. "I thought it might be funny to watch ya punch him in the face."

"I wouldn't hit him…he's harmless." Is ay and he smiles a bit. I can tell he doesn't completely hate his brother. "Don't worry, he'll get bored with me."

"I don't know, he's pretty persistent." He says and I chuckle. "You're gonna fall in love with him."

"And what makes you say that?" I ask, turning my attention fully to him. "Don't be so presumptuous, McCoy."

"I actually think I'm startin' to prefer when you call me Leonard." He maintains eye contact with me and butterflies fill my stomach.

"Your mom thinks it's funny when I just use your last name." I say and he gets that half smirk. "But I think I'm getting used to it now. My friends Jim, Troian, and Leonard. You used to be the odd man out."

"Still am. I'm older than all of you." He says and I roll my eyes. "I'm thirty-one. You're barely twenty-three."

"We're at that point where age doesn't matter. Eight years used to seem like a lot with my brother, but with you it seems like nothing. I don't care how old you are as long as you treat me well." I say with a shrug and then I go back to the notes I'd opened up. "Does it really matter that much to you?"

"I guess it doesn't." He says and that doesn't help my butterfly situation. I feel like this gives me a better insight on whether or not there is a chance of this going anywhere and I hate that I'm thinking of it like that. I shouldn't be falling for someone. Especially not someone who has been such a good friend to me.

* * *

I wake up from a bad dream and nearly jump out of my skin, but then I get to work grounding myself again. I am in my room with a throw blanket draped over me. I must have fallen asleep downstairs and Leonard carried me up here. I sigh as I slide off the bed and go back downstairs.

"You haven't seen anything. I had to sit in on a training exercise where she and Jim went in as mediator and captain with a couple of other people to fill out a typical away team." Leonard has his back to the stairs, he's talking to his brother and his dad. "She coulda picked someone less hot headed as captain, but she's a real sweetheart. As we expected, things went bad pretty fast and the team started gettin' the tar kicked out of 'em. She'd technically been captured, but then there was this moment where you just saw it click. She got the phaser away from the guy holdin' her, stunned him, and then turned the entire situation around. It wasn't peaceful like she wanted, but she did it."

"I couldn't have done it by myself." I say, smirking as he jumps. "And Jim may be a hot-head, but he's going to make a great captain someday. He just needs to start thinking with his brain rather than something else."

"That's puttin' it lightly." He agrees and I laugh as I make it the rest of the way down the stairs.

"He tells that story like I did something totally amazing, but Jim really came through once we rallied. He was the real hero in the situation." I say and Thomas gives me a fond smile.

"From what it sounds like, he wouldn't have been able to do it without you. I admire your guts." He says and I wave it off.

"Is Lucille in the kitchen?" I ask, feeling odd referring to her by name, but she insisted that I stop calling her Mrs. McCoy.

"Yeah and she's ready to bake whenever you are. I figured you'd only be out an hour or so, so you aren't late." He says and I smile my thanks before I head that way. I offered to help bake for the party since she's got a pretty large to-do list.

"I'm sorry for falling asleep like that, but I'm recharged and ready to bake. These hands are yours for whatever you need them for." I say and she smiles at me.

"You needed it." She says fondly. "I was gonna start some caramels, do you mind?" I shake my head and wash my hands. She hands me an apron and I put it on before we get to work and it kind of surprises me how well we work together. Since I was basically bred to be the perfect little housewife, my kitchen skills are superior to those of the average woman my age. We make all manners of cookie and candy as well as several pies. Baking was always something I didn't mind doing and now I'm having so much fun. Whenever I did cook or bake with my mother, we tended to stay quiet so that we didn't set my father off. Lucille McCoy, however, has my abdominal muscles aching from how much I've been laughing. It's when I'm seated at the dining room table, preparing to start decorating some cookies that I realize this and I let out a small giggle.

"What's that about?" Leonard asks as he takes a seat across from me. I raise an eyebrow at him. "Surgeon's hands. I'm usually enlisted to help ice the gingerbread men and build the gingerbread house. What was that giggle about?"

"My abs hurt from laughing so much." I say, unable to stop another small laugh. "I'm having a really great time."

"I'm glad." He says sincerely. "I'm also really glad that you were here to help. She usually doesn't let anyone near the kitchen."

"Well, in that case I feel pretty special." I say as I pick up the piping bag with the red royal icing and begin working on a Santa hat. "So…if you don't mind me asking…she didn't let Rachel help?"

"Oh she tried. Rachel nearly sat the house on fire." He says and I raise my eyebrows again. "It's okay to laugh, it's pretty funny now." He picks up some white icing and sets to working on the gingerbread men. "It looks like you're tryin' to put me out of the job."

"I was bred to be the perfect PTA mom. Based on their five-year plan…our first son would be five, so kindergarten. I'd probably be pregnant with our second child, a daughter, but still being in charge of the bake sale." I roll my eyes.

"So wait, they literally had a five-year plan written out for you?" He asks and I nod. "How'd they take to you refusin' until after college?"

"Oh they were not happy at all, but I made them an offer they couldn't refuse." I say and my tone tells him that I refuse to delve further into that. He lets it go. "So I've been thinking about picking up nursing for when I'm not needed on the bridge."

"That brain of yours is pretty impressive, if anyone could do it, it'd be you." He says and I smile a little. We fall into an easy silence and I finish decorating all of the sugar cookies. I'm pretty happy with them.

"Do you want any help on that gingerbread house, Leonard?" I ask and he looks up at me.

"Darlin', it'd be an honor." He says and I roll my eyes as I move over to sit beside him. "Have you ever built one of these before?"

"I have not, my family wasn't a big fan of gingerbread." I say and he sits back and stretches before he pops his knuckles. "It doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. You just glue it together with the icing."

"Darlin', it is more than just 'gluin' it together with icing'. This is an art form." He says and I do my best to keep a straight face.

"Then just tell me what I need to do, Doctor." I say in as serious of a voice as I can muster. He glowers at me and I place a hand on his shoulder in assurance as I burst into laughter. "An art form, Leonard?"

"You know what? I think I can do this myself." He says and I shoulder him out of the way and pick up the icing. "Typical." He mutters.

"Oh fine, ya big baby. Show me how it's done." I say as I set the icing down and sit back, crossing my arms across my chest.

"We'll collaborate." He says as he organizes the pieces. "How are ya feelin'? Anything givin' you trouble?"

"I'm fine, Leonard. Really." I say gently. "Now quit stalling, I want to build this." He rolls his eyes.

"Fine. Hold these two pieces together and I'll pipe the icing." He says and I salute before I do as I was instructed. "So what are you the most excited to try?"

"You're really asking me what aspect of food I'm excited for? The answer is all." I say and he chuckles.

"I'd almost forgotten that you were a bottomless pit." He says and I shrug. "I'm pretty excited for those peanut butter cookies of yours. I'd nab one now if I weren't sure I'd lose a finger or two."

"Smart and cute." I say with a surprised look on my face. He glowers at me for a second before he dabs some icing on my nose. "Leonard McCoy, that was a compliment you jerk." I say with a gasp. I pick up another icing bag and try to dab his nose, but he moves and I get his cheek.

"Are we gonna have to separate the two of you?" Thomas asks with an amused look as he passes through the dining room and goes to the kitchen.

"Or revoke his dessert privileges or something." I say as I grab a dish towel and wipe off my nose. "And to think I was going to put my life on the line to sneak you a cookie. It is a good thing I know better."

* * *

"Darlin', wake up." Leonard says, jarring me out of a deep sleep. I gasp as I sit up, reaching for something. What? I'm not sure. "No relax, just get some shoes on and meet me downstairs."

"Kay?" I ask sleepily as I sit up and pull on my tennis shoes, which I've kept next to my bed just in case. I pull on the first sweatshirt my hands touch and head downstairs. I squint, my left eye nearly closed. Leonard guides me outside and both eyes open as I see the snow falling. "Okay, this is an appropriate reason to wake me up."

"I figured you'd forgive me. Sorry about the heart failure. Good thing I'm a doctor." He says and I look at him for a moment before I shake my head and chuckle. "Just a second." He goes inside. I go over and sit down on the porch swing. He returns with two cups of coffee.

"Now you're even more forgiven." I say as I accept my mug and allow for it to warm my hands before I take a drink. "I didn't expect this."

"We get about three inches a year here." He says as he takes a seat beside me. "Joanna is gonna be so excited."

"The first snowfall is always exciting. I always say it's acceptable on Christmas, any other time it's unnecessary." I say and then I shake my head. "What are you doing up this early?"

"Habit?" He shrugs. "I'm glad I was." He pushes the swing with one leg after crossing his other one. "You warm enough?"

"I'm fine." I say with a smile. "Thanks for sharing this with me…it's really special." He smiles.

"Yeah? Well it's gonna get hectic real fast. All hands on deck for getting' ready for the part." He says and I take another drink of my coffee.

"Bring it on. Holidays were never happy in my house, so I'm excited to see if all the hype for this party is deserved." I say and he looks amused. This is incredibly peaceful. "So, I was just thinking. Why don't we make breakfast for everyone? Give your mom a break."

"That sounds like a great idea." He says with a smile and we go inside. I set my mug down on the counter.

"You can't go wrong with a classic pancake breakfast. I've got a great recipe." I say and then I go by memory and grab what I need. Just as his mother and I work well together, cooking with Leonard is pretty fun too. The smells of breakfast draw the sleeping patrons of the house downstairs and Lucille puts her hands on her hips.

"Have a seat and we'll bring things out shortly." Leonard says as he kisses her cheek. She shakes her head before she joins the other two in the dining room. As promised, we bring everything to the table. More coffee is poured and then we sit down.

"Thank you for breakfast." She says as she looks between us. "You make quite the team, don't you?"

"The way I see it, someone has to learn how to work well with his sass." I say with a shrug and she chuckles. "Well, Jim works well with him, but only because he makes him do things he doesn't want to do."

"Oh yeah, only in the best ways." Leonard says sarcastically. "That man will be the death of me."

"Don't be so dramatic." I say with a roll of my eyes. "He's not that bad. Well…most days. There are times where he's incorrigible."

"It seems like you can't leave incorrigible behind, can ya?" He asks and I glance at Andrew who looks innocent.

"Don't pick on him so early, he's not even awake yet." Lucille chastises her eldest son and I chuckle. It seems as though Leonard and Lucille are the only McCoys who are early risers.

"Oh alright." He says as he picks up the coffee pot and refills his mug. He glances at me and I nod, so he refills mine as well.

"Thank you." I say as I take a drink. "As my doctor, I don't know how you can support my caffeine addiction."

"I'm just as bad as you are. I'm a doctor, Darlin', not a hypocrite." He says and I see a small smile out of Thomas. As we finish breakfast, Lucille shoos me upstairs to grab a shower before we start in on preparing for the festivities this evening. I shower quickly and dress in jeans and a tee shirt. My outfit for this evening will be a lot nicer…but since I'm going to be helping, I figured that this would be appropriate. I step out of the bathroom and head down the stairs.

"I don't see what the big deal is. We're friends now too. I'm curious about it." Andrew says to an annoyed Leonard.

"She doesn't like it bein' talked about, so drop it." He says and I walk up. Andrew has the decency to look apologetic.

"The scar?" I ask and he looks like he feels worse. "It's fine. Marcus likes knives. We were both incredibly drunk and he stabbed me because I made him angry. That's why I don't drink anymore…well that and alcoholism isn't great."

"Satisfied?" Leonard asks his brother sharply. "Now let's get this table set up in the dining room."

"Got it." Andrew says and then he carries the table into the dining room by himself. Leonard lets out a sigh. I pat his shoulder reassuringly.

"It's fine. I knew that I would get questions about it eventually. Especially since I'm somewhere that I don't wear a high-necked uniform all the time." I say gently. "He's curious about me, it's normal."

"I know, but he doesn't have to be so annoying about it." He says grumpily and I shake my head.

"Oh Leonard, it's sweet when you protect me, but I don't need you to." I say and he takes that as an invitation to ruffle my hair. "Damn it, you know I hate when Jim does that. Why would you do it?"

"Because I know you hate it." He says and I lash out to smack his arm, like I would Jim, but he dances out of my reach with an ornery laugh.

"You're walking a thin line, McCoy." I say with a shake of my head before I go into the kitchen.

"Are those boys of mine givin' you trouble?" Lucille asks as she looks over her shoulder at me.

"Only Leonard, but that's nothing new." I say with a laugh. "What do you need me to do?"

"If you wouldn't mind peelin' the potatoes." She says and I offer a salute before I go about my task. She's getting ready to start the Christmas ham. "Now…this may be too personal of a question, but it's been buggin' me. Why did you stay with Marcus as long as you did?"

"Well…" I start, trying to think of a good way to answer. "I don't come from a home filled with love, so I craved it so much that I took it however I could get it. I fell for a different man than he actually ended up being. Things were a lot worse than I care to admit to you."

"And when did you get it in you to leave it behind?" She asks and I nod, smiling to myself a little.

"Well, there were a couple of people who helped with that. There was a guy in one of my classes who recognized the signs that I was in that sort of situation and he started talking to me. I minored in xenolinguistics because it interested me and he brought me information on Starfleet. So I took the aptitude tests for the hell of it and applied. I'd been starting to think about leaving because a friend of mine from this dive that I used to hide out at. Pete." I leave out the One-Eyed part. "He was pretty upset with me the last time I saw him. He took me to the hospital when I stumbled into Scully's bleeding, drunk, and hysterical. I told him I couldn't leave."

"But you did." She says and I nod, smiling again. "It took a lot of guts to get out of there."

"That's what Ash said. He's who got me up to speed before I left for the academy." I feel some pride there. "He didn't count on me becoming so obsessive with my training once he wasn't there ordering me around. If not for Leonard, I'd probably have ran myself into the ground by now. He's been a great friend."

"You've been a good friend for him as well." She says fondly. "Admittedly, he's not told me as much as a nosey momma would like to know about how you met."

"It's not really that interesting. Marcus came to try and take me back to Illinois, punched me in the face, and then after I knocked him on his ass, Leonard was right there making sure I was okay. I'm positive he was drunk, but that didn't stop him." I say with a laugh.

"That boy." She says with a shake of her head. I smile. "Well, it sounds like you've kept him on his toes from the get-go."

"He loves it just as much as he hates it." I say and that has her laughing. "I exasperate him."

"What are we talkin' about?" Leonard asks as he walks in. I grab the dish towel and wipe my hands before I snap it at him. He dances out of the way. "What on Earth was that for!?"

"That was for earlier." I say as I wind it up again and snap it menacingly before I go back to peeling potatoes.

"You'll have to teach me how to do that." Lucille says dryly. "Keep that husband of mine in line."

"If Leonard is as much like him as you say, that's going to be impossible." I say and she laughs. "What did you need, Leonard?"

"I wanted to check on those ribs of yours. You mind comin' and sittin' down for a minute?" He asks and I shake my head, but wipe my hands once more and follow him to the office just off of the living room. I pull my hair into a bun on top of my head as I take a seat on the leather sofa across from the desk. He sets his kit on the couch beside me as he kneels in front of me. He starts feeling along the ribs. Air hisses through my teeth.

"Well of course it's going to hurt if you prod at them like that." I say and he makes a face as he grabs something from his kit and starts scanning me.

"Is that nail polish regulation?" He asks and I look at my hands. That seems like something odd to fixate on.

"Is that stubble?" I ask and he chuckles. "Are you about finished? There's approximately eight billion potatoes that need to be peeled."

"Just about." He says and I decide to be patient. "Are you doin' okay? No extra bad dreams?"

"That was once, Leonard. Let it go." I say, even though that's not necessarily true. I told him about one of the nightmares I had and of course as a good friend, he hasn't forgotten.

"Maybe you're right. That luggage under your eyes has gotten a lot better." He says and I glare at him.

"You need to work on your bedside manner." I say and he gets that ornery look on his face. "You're done." I say as I stand up, he nearly falls over but he finds that funny. I go back to the kitchen and Lucille and I get to work. The day passes by quickly and before long I'm being shooed upstairs again to get ready. I style my hair using some simple braids that look more complex than they are…it's a look that always makes me feel pretty which is what I need right now. I put on the only pieces of jewelry that I brought with me from Illinois. The diamond earrings that my grandma Olivia left me. They're the reason I got my ears pierced a second time. The dress I brought to wear has a strategically high neckline. Long sleeves cover the bruises on my arms. It's also very pretty though…a deep red lace pattern. I pair it with some black tights and some modest high heels. I keep my makeup simple in the eyes and go for a bold lip. My bruises have faded enough that I need minimal makeup to cover them which I'm grateful for. Once I'm confident in my war paint, I head downstairs. People have started to arrive and so I quietly slip into the kitchen to help Lucille with any last-minute things she needs.

"Olivia, Sweetheart, you look stunning." She says as she sees me. Her dress is red as well, only she's accented it with gold jewelry.

"Leonard said it was a grand affair." I say with a shrug. I feel a little self-conscious now. "Is there anything else I can help you with right now?"

"Not at all, go ahead and enjoy the party." She says and I smile before I head back into the living room. I spot Leonard over by the window, his back is to me. One of the men that he is talking to smacks his arm and he turns around and his eyebrows raise ever so slightly and he gestures me over. I make my way to them.

"Olivia, I can hardly call them gentlemen, but these are the guys I went to medical school with." He says and I extend my hand to the first man.

"Malachi Reiner, it's a pleasure to meet you, Olivia." He says as he shakes my hand. "And this is Easton Thomas, he's a bit slow." Easton rolls his eyes, but then he shakes my hand.

"He always says that, but I'm the second-best doctor in town at least. So you're at Starfleet with Leo?"

"Leo?" I ask with a slight raise of my eyebrows at my friend. "Yes, I am. I'm studying mediation, we're in the first year of it being offered."

"Meaning, she can cuss ya in more languages than you can comprehend, and hand your ass to ya before you knew what hit ya." Leonard says and I purse my lips to contain my amusement at his behavior.

"Smart and beautiful." Easton says as he raises his glass to me. "Can I get ya a drink, Miss Gray?"

"I'm fine for now, thank you." I say and Malachi laughs at him. "So the two of you are doctors, you practice in town?"

"Yup. The three of us had a practice in town before this one decided to get off the planet." Malachi elbows Leonard.

"All he's got left is his bones." I say, quoting him. The two men laugh raucously, which makes me laugh. "Our friend Jim exclusively calls him Bones now."

"Now, I got a Dr. McCoy once." Leonard says and I shake my head. "That kid is big on the nicknames."

"I swear if he ever calls me Lieutenant Ollie-pop when we're on duty, I'll kill him." I say with a sigh. "Anyway, enough about those weird friends."

"Are you implying that we're weird friends?" Easton asks and I shrug innocently. "And I thought this one was sweet." He says and that makes me feel pretty uncomfortable, but I hide it well. I catch the look Leonard gives him.

"Well, I'll let you guys catch up. I'm going to see if Lucille needs my help." I smoothly lie my way out of the situation. I need to find a place to hide in plain sight and that will be easier if I have a drink. I spot Thomas making drinks in the dining room and I make my way over.

"Olivia, what can I get for you?" He asks and I eye the liquor on the bar cart before me and my eyes fall on a bottle of wine. Wine is safe.

"I'll just have a glass of wine, thank you, Mr. McCoy." I say with a smile. He picks up a glass for me and pours the wine.

"Please call me Thomas." He says as he hands the glass over. "Don't let Easton and Malachi bother ya, they're loud idiots most of the time."

"Oh, I'm fine." I wave off his concern and he gives me a look which makes me realize that Leonard really is a lot like him. "Thank you." I raise the glass to him before I go back to finding a place to sit and blend in. I keep a smile plastered on my face and find such a place. I take a drink of the wine, feeling a little ridiculous for being anxious. I'm not drinking to cope with the situation and I'm not going to have enough to get drunk. I do actually enjoy wine.

"Olivia?" Andrew asks, sitting down beside me. "I thought that you didn't…" He lets the thought hang on empty air.

"It's fine." I say in a confident voice. "It's for blending in purposes, but I appreciate your concern."

"Alright, well don't hesitate to hide by me. My friends are all at their own Christmas shindigs. The Thomases and the Reiners are family friends, so that's why those assholes are here." He says and that makes me laugh a little. What Leonard says comes to mind then.

"They didn't make me uncomfortable." I say and he gives me a look as well. "Who asked you, McCoy?"

"No one. I just thought I'd check on ya. Probably will again in a bit." He says with wink and then he heads back off into the party. My eyes find Leonard of their own accord…he's walking around now. I first notice that he's shaved…but I think I almost prefer the scruff. It gives him a sort of rugged look that…what am I even thinking? I don't have the right to think like that, even if I do have feelings for him. It's not gonna happen. Some fresh air will probably help clear my head. I stand up from my hiding place and head out onto the front porch. The sky is cloudy which makes the sunset even darker. But it's the sort of cloudy where you can still see the sun setting. It's really a breathtaking view. I take a deep breath of the chilly air and let it out slowly. These Georgians are complaining about how 'frigid' it is…if only they knew. I remember one Christmas where it was so cold it hurt to breathe.

"Darlin'?" Leonard's voice breaks me out of my thoughts and I look over at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's pretty toasty in there, so I came out for some fresh air. Is everything alright with you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I was just lookin' for ya. My aunt wants to meet you." He says and I smile before I walk over. He holds the door open for me and I walk in. He leads the way over to her. "This is Pa's sister, Abigail. Aunt Abigail, this is Olivia Gray."

"It's nice to meet you." I say as I extend my hand. She has the gentle handshake that you would expect from a refined southern lady.

"It's nice to meet you too." She says warmly. "My, you're quite pretty. When I was in school, girls as smart as you weren't nearly as pretty." I'm sure that's not true, but I smile regardless.

"Thank you. I was fortunate enough to favor my mother as far as looks go. Dark hair and fair skin." I say with a light shrug. She chuckles and I smile.

"Your mother must be a lovely woman. What does your family do?" She asks and I keep my composure.

"My mother has always been a homemaker and then my father does work for the county. I'm from a small town in Illinois." I explain and she nods.

"Not too many women make homes anymore, looks like yourself included. You have that look about you. A worldly young woman." She says and I smile.

"Thank you, ma'am. Hopefully it turns out I'm otherworldly." I say and that gets a light laugh. "Someone has to look after Leonard once we're in space."

"I'm sure you'll do a good job of lookin' after each other." She says kindly, but for whatever reason, I blush. Lord. "Well, I won't keep you. Enjoy your first McCoy Christmas party." She winks and Leonard gives her hand a gentle squeeze before he leads me away.

"Everyone seems to think that we're together, don't they?" I ask with a slight laugh. He waves it off.

"We know what we are, so that's all that's important." He says and I hum my agreement. "You want your glass topped off?"

"One's good for me." I say and then I see Rachel and Joanna walk in. Joanna is carrying two wrapped presents in her arms. She runs over and sets them under the tree. Her mother follows behind her and sets a couple of more down. Joanna spots us and runs over.

"Miss Ollie! You look pretty like a princess!" She exclaims and I take her hand and have her do a little spin.

"Why thank you! But I think between the two of us, you're more like a princess. What do you think, Leonard?" I ask and he stoops down and picks her up.

"The prettiest princess in the galaxy." He says as he gives her a kiss on her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Sweetheart."

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" She exclaims, hugging him close. "I picked out a really good present for you!"

"I'm gonna love it." He says and I smile. Rachel walks over, pretty much glaring at me. "Rachel."

"Leonard." She returns his greeting. "Olivia." I'm surprised that I even get a greeting, but I smile nonetheless.

"It's nice to see you again, Rachel." I say evenly. I can deal with hostile forces peacefully. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to finally grab a plate."

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Leonard says and then he looks at Joanna. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving! I've been excited for ham all day!" She exclaims and I smile. He sets her down, keeping hold of her hand. I start to walk towards the entry way to the dining room, but Leonard grabs me by the wrist and I almost fall over.

"What the heck?" I ask and then I see Andrew snap, like he was foiled. I look up and see the mistletoe. "Oh. Good call. Thanks, buddy."

"No problem, buddy." Leonard says, amused as he leads the way through. The four of us make our way through the buffet-style line and find a seat. Leonard goes off to grab a drink for his daughter.

"Ah, Miss Olivia, this will go better with your meal." Andrew says as he sets a drink down for me. "All the wait staff needs in the line of tip is that famous smile of yours." I laugh just a little and he winks at me. "I'll get rid of that glass for you."

"Thank you, Andrew." I say as I hand the glass over. He boops Joanna on the nose, causing her to giggle before he heads off into the party again. He did say he would be back to check on me. This drink is just ginger ale with a couple of strawberries floating in it.

"So it looks like the McCoy boys are taking care of you." Rachel says in a pretty neutral tone. "This party can be a little overwhelming the first time."

"So far it's been pretty great. Honestly, I'm not used to such a grand affair." I say with a smile. "Lucille has been incredibly gracious."

"That's her." She says fondly. "So it seems like Andrew is quite interested in you. What does Leonard think of that?"

"I've noticed that he has a general sense of annoyance with Andrew. I don't think I have anything to do with it." I say evenly. Thankfully, Leonard returns then and he takes the seat beside me. I hear a loud noise, which causes me to jump and turn around in my seat to see what's going on. Leonard is quick to place an arm around my shoulders to sooth me.

"It's alright. Just my Uncle Henry and Pa. They're rowdy." He says and I offer a terse smile before I force myself to relax. He removes his arm and I glance over and see that Rachel is glaring again. I stay mostly quiet as we eat, but Joanna does a good job of filling in for me. Pretty soon, it feels as though I've made it to the halfway point of the party. I'm standing with Andrew and Malachi when Joanna runs up and takes my hand.

"Miss Ollie! I'm gettin' ready to leave, you and Uncle Andy need to come open your presents from me!" She says urgently and I feel my throat get a little tight.

"You heard the lady, Olivia, let's go." Andrew says and I allow her to lead me into the office and I sit down where she directs me to, beside Leonard. She hands me a box. We open our respective presents and I feel a genuine, warm smile spready across my face.

"Joanna, this is absolutely the best gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you." I say as I hold up the charm bracelet. It only has two charms on it, one with my birthstone and then a little otter.

"Daddy said that you liked otters a lot and I saw this at the store and I knew that I had to get it for you!" She says and I feel my throat tightening again, but I keep the tears at bay. "Here! I'll help you put it on!" I unlatch the clasp and hand it to her before I hold out my wrist. She has a little trouble, but she gets it.

"What do you think?" I ask as I hold out my hand and she throws her arms around my neck.

"They're perfect!" She exclaims and I smile as I hug her back. "I'm so glad you like it!" We say our goodbyes and then she and Rachel leave.

"Olivia, sweetheart, can you come here for a second?" Lucille calls from the next room. I stand up from where I'd taken to hiding and head towards her voice. I turn to pass Leonard in the doorway when Andrew clears his throat. It's the doorway with the mistletoe. Leonard raises his eyebrows and he looks a little apologetic.

"Tradition is tradition." I say as I stand up on my toes. This could be the moment where I kiss him and reveal to him that I have feelings, but that's not wise. He leans down a little bit and I kiss him on the cheek. Andrew whistles and I roll my eyes. "You're cruisin' for a bruisin', younger McCoy. Both of the McCoy boys actually. First you try to trap me under here, then this one?" I shake my head.

"I had nothin' to do with this." Leonard says and I chuckle as I reach up and wipe the little bit of lipstick that had transferred onto his cheek off with my thumb. "Anyway, what's goin' on, Momma?"

"I want to take your guys' picture." She guides us over to the Christmas tree and I stand beside him and I'm a little shocked when he puts his arm around me. But it does seem normal. I mean, we're in a picture together. She snaps the photo. "Oh, this is a good one. Now Leonard, take our picture." She switches places with her son. He takes the photo and then she's gone back off into the party.

"She probably just wanted proof that you do have friends." I say and my friend gives me a grumpy look. "What?" I ask with a laugh. "You're a pretty grumpy guy."

"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving it off. "Do you want your gift tonight or in the morning?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow.

"You got me a gift? You didn't have to do that." I say and he shrugs. "That depends, when do you want your gifts?"

"Gifts? Plural? You're gonna get yourself in trouble." He says and I grin at him. "Tonight then, don't forget."

Someone, the party is still in full swing even though it's well after ten. I head upstairs and change into yoga pants and a tee shirt in my room before I go to the bathroom to wash my makeup off. Leonard is just reaching the top of the stairs when I step out of the bathroom.

"Give me a minute, I'm gonna grab your gift and then I'll be over." He says and I just nod before I go back to my room and grab his gifts. I'm more than a little nervous as I sit on the edge of the bed. My head is pounding…probably from the bobby pins. I run a hand through my hair and I jump a little when he knocks on the doorframe. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just tired. Have a seat." I say as I scoot over a little bit. I elect to sit cross-legged, facing him. I hold out the wrapped gifts to him. "One is just a joke. I'll let you decide which one."

"That doesn't make me nervous at all." He says as he hands over the small box to me. It's wrapped simply with a bow on top.

"You go first." I say and he gives me a look before he goes for the gag gift. It's a bottle of shampoo that's supposed to help with preventing hair loss.

"Darlin', that's not even funny." He says as he runs a hand through his hair. I laugh. "This is the gag, right?"

"Open the other one." I say with a shrug. He opens the smaller of the two and he holds up the watch to look at it before he puts it on. "I knew your old one broke, so it seemed practical."

"It's a nice gift. Thank you." He says and I smile and tuck my hair behind my ears. He gestures to the box in my hands. "Your turn." I slide the ribbon off and tear away the paper to uncover a velvet box. I open it and see two charms. "Joanna coordinated with me." I examine them closely. One of the charms is a star and the other is some type of stone. "That's rose quartz. It's supposed to represent trust and healin' or whatever. I thought you might like it." He's trying to wave it off.

"This is great…thank you so much." I say, willing the tears to not spill over. "This is easily the second-best gift I've ever gotten. You McCoys certainly know how to give gifts."

"Well…we try." He says with a shrug, trying to be nonchalant, but then he smiles. "I hope you had a good time tonight. Everyone loved meeting you."

"Just wait for if they actually get to know me." I say and he rolls his eyes. "Good night, Leonard. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Darlin'." He says and then he leaves my room, closing the door behind him. My heart is racing a million miles an hour. I've really got it bad for Leonard McCoy.


	5. Particularly Squirrely

_So it's been a while! Hello everyone, thanks for coming to chapter past two years have been pretty interesting for me to say the very least, but I have recently become inspired to work on this story again! Progress will be slow and honestly writing this is more for my sanity than anything, but I felt like sharing it since I started sharing it however long ago! Progress will certainly be slow as I am entering into one of my last semesters of college. Hopefully by Fall 2019 I will have my associate's degree in business administration. I don't plan to do anymore than that, so hopefully I'll be able to devote more time to my love of writing! As usual, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know! I welcome feedback and constructive criticism. I'm a little rusty, but I hope that you enjoy!_

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I sit on the couch in my shared dorm room with my knees hugged to my chest. Troian should be home today…which is good because I need to talk to her. Georgia was supposed to be a relaxing escape for me and for the most part, I guess it was. Sure Marcus showed up and nearly ruined it for me…but that didn't have a big impact on the overall experience. Lucille and Thomas McCoy are phenomenal people and they really made me feel like part of their family. Andrew…while he's a little shit, he's an all around good guy. It was so nice to meet Joanna despite Rachel probably hating me for it. Everything was great until Leonard made things complicated on New Year's Eve. The door chirps as someone rings the bell.

"Computer, who is it?" I ask, thankful for the technology so that I don't have to get up from my spot.

"Dr. Leonard McCoy." The computer alerts me and I sigh as I stand up. I look down at myself dressed in leggings and one of my own sweatshirts. I go over and open the door.

"I was goin' to get somethin' to eat, so I thought I'd see if you wanted to come with." He says and I lean against the frame for a second before I nod.

"Just a second, I need to put my shoes on." I say and then I step back to allow him inside. I go to my room and put on my tennis shoes and slip on the brace that I should have been wearing.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asks, referencing the cold that I told him I thought I may be coming down with.

"I still just feel weird, but everything should be okay." I say, shouldering my bag. "I'm ready." He leads the way out of the room and I make sure the door closes before I follow him onto the lift that takes us down to the first floor. We head outside and in the direction of the mess hall. It looks like it's going to rain. "How'd studying go?" Polite, casual conversation.

"It went alright." He says and I hum. "So I think we should talk about what happened." It's not a question. It's a demand.

"And I think that we should hold off on that." I say, glancing up at him. "Look…unless you're going to tell me that you were drunk and that the kiss didn't mean anything…it's probably best if we don't have this conversation until I'm ready for that."

"Is that what you want it to be?" He asks, his accent is thicker with the hint of anger that's on his tone.

"Of course that's not what I want it to have been." I scoff at the ridiculousness. "What girl would want that? I'm not ready for this conversation, Leonard, so leave it."

"So that's just it?" He asks and I nod, raising my eyebrows, daring him to argue the point further. "This is frustratin' as hell."

"Why is it so important to have this conversation now?" I ask, trying to not get too anxious.

"Because. If I like you and you like me, then what's the problem?" He asks and I take a steadying breath.

"Christ Leonard, you watched my ex try to kill me. What on Earth would stop him from doing something worse to you or your family?" I ask, keeping my voice down so that no one overhears.

"So you plan on just spendin' the rest of your life by yourself because you're afraid of what he MIGHT do, is that right?" He asks and I feel my anger flare up just a bit.

"Do I need to remind you that he found your parents' house and came there to take me 'home'? And I will be damned before I put Joanna at risk just because I might have feelings for you. This isn't about being afraid of Marcus. This is about putting others before myself." I say and he shakes his head.

"He wouldn't get within a hundred feet of her." He says and I sigh. "You are constantly doing things for other people. Why don't you let people do something for you for once?"

"Because I am capable of taking care of myself. I don't need someone else to take care of me. I don't know why you're obsessed with that so much." I say and I briefly see him about for form a retort, but he stops.

"You know what? You're lashin' out because you're tryin' to push me away, and I'm not gonna let that happen. I am gonna be annoyingly patient with you." He says and I feel my eye twitch with my annoyance. "Doesn't that just piss you off?"

"Why does it matter so much? I mean you just got divorced, I thought you were sworn off feelings and junk." I say and he lets out a bit of a laugh.

"Well if you'd let me talk to you about it, you'd find out that there's just somethin' about you that I just can't place." He says and I sigh.

"It's probably just because in your head you see me as someone who needs fixed. While you're one of those asshole doctors, you're still a doctor none the less and you want to fix me." I say and he gives me a look. "What? It's a bit of a toned-down God complex. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I love that you want to be there for me…but what if I can't be fixed, Leonard?"

"You can't be because there's nothin' wrong with you." He says and I give him a very dubious look.

"Now that's a crock of shit if I've ever heard one before." I say and he gives me a look. "Something has to be wrong with me."

"Well not entirely, otherwise you probably wouldn't have been allowed to go here." He says and I feel my frustration going.

"Well you just have an answer for everything, don't you?" I start walking again. I know he's following.

"So do you Miss. 'You have a God complex'. Then you had to go and try to sweeten the blow. 'I love that you want to be there for me'." He does a poor imitation of my voice and I have to try really hard not to laugh at it. "Look…if you really want to wait for this conversation, that's fine. I'm content with what he have."

"Okay." I say with a nod. "I promise that I'll stop trying to avoid you then." He gives me a look. "I've only ignored the door twice when you've come to see me." I roll my eyes and open the door to the mess hall. We go through the line and then find a table. "When did this even happen."

"Well Sullivan and Jim are always late, so we spend a lot of time together waiting on them. Other than that I like to think that we've been pretty good friends to each other." He says and I smile a little. "These things happen…or so I've heard." I look down at my hands. "Darlin' look at me…" After a moment, I look up at him. "I don't want to just take care of ya…I just don't want ya to think that you have to handle this alone anymore. To hell with me…you've got Sullivan and Jim who are more than happy to do anything for you."

"I want to let people in, but I just can't right now. It's too dangerous. If Tro or Jim were to find out just what Marcus or my father have done to me…they would go ballistic. I mean sure they know…but you're the only one who knows just how bad it was and that's only based on my medical records." I say and then he reaches across the table and takes my hand. "Sure I egged them on by being so rebellious…but nobody deserves to live like that."

"And that's why I truly believe that there is nothin' wrong with you." He says and I give him a look. "Anyone else in your situation would say that they flat out deserved what they got. You have a talent for pushin' buttons and your father and Marcus clearly have issues, but what happened wasn't your fault and you know that."

"What is my fault is that I let it go on for so long." I say and he sighs, giving my hand a light squeeze.

"But that is behind you now…and nothin' is going to take you back to that place. You're safe from them now and there are a lot of people who will make sure that you stay that way. Whether you ever confront your feelings for me or not, I'll always be there for you." He's trying to make me laugh now, but he is being serious. "Now eat up. I think you lost weight while we were in Georgia."

"Only muscle because you didn't let me work out as much." I say as I take a bite of mashed potatoes. As the door to the mess hall opens I glance over out of habit and do a double-take as I see Jim and Tro. I jump up and run over, jumping into her arms. "Peaches!"

"My baby!" She exclaims, spinning me around. "I stalked you and found out you were here, so we came to join you."

"I'm so glad you did. Go grab a tray and come to the table." I say and she winks before she and Jim head off to the line to grab their food. Jim is oddly contemplative…it has me a little worried about him. When they sit down, I give him a look. "You're not going to make me hug you, are you?"

"That depends…is it going to be the sort of hug where you squish my head against your boobs?" He says and Tro smacks him on the back of the head. "Hey! I was just kidding. What's gotcha askin' Ollie Pop?"

"You're oddly quiet, so I was worried." I say with a shrug and then I go for my mashed potatoes again.

"What'd you do to your hand?" He asks and I shoot a glare at Leonard who just shakes his head at me.

"Leonard was gentlemaning too hard and he caused me to sprain my wrist." I say and Tro laughs.

"If you woulda just let me carry your bag, it wouldn't have been a problem." He says gruffly as he takes a drink of his water.

"Or if you would let me carry my own damn bag!" I exclaim, still frustrated by the situation. "Sexist."

"It's not sexist. It's called havin' manners, dammit." He says and I roll my eyes. "They're gonna get stuck that way."

"Good thing my best friend's a doctor." I say, sticking my tongue out at him and he rolls his own eyes.

"You guys may have spent too much time together." Jim says and I laugh. "How did Georgia treat you, Miss Gray?"

"It was lovely. It even snowed for me." I say with a smile. Leonard shoots me a look. It's not like I'm going to tell them that Marcus showed up here. "Mrs. McCoy let me help her bake which was a lot of fun. Johanna and and I played together a lot."

"How sweet." Tro says with a smile. "I'm glad that you had a good time. You needed a break."

"You can say that again." I say with a laugh. Smoothly staying away from the Marcus conversation for now.

* * *

"So…there's something that I should tell you two." I say as we're heading back to the residence hall. I've thought more about it through dinner and I should let them know just in case more danger arises due to him. Tro could already tell that something was up, but I didn't tell her because I wanted to tell them together so that I didn't have to rehash it any more than I already have. "Come on." I open the door to Tro and I's room and the four of us file in. "Sit down, you two." I nod at Tro and Jim and they regard me oddly as they go over to the couch and sit. Tro almost looks nervous. "So…Georgia wasn't as peaceful as I have artfully led you to believe."

"Don't beat around the bush if you're gonna tell 'em." Leonard says and I shoot him a look. "Well, go on."

"Marcus showed up." I say and Jim stands. "Sit down, Jim. It's not like there's anything you could do now. Anyway…he showed up and there was a brief physical altercation which led to his temporary arrest, but he is of course out of jail by this point. I just wanted to let the two of you know just in case he attempts further contact with me through you."

"Just how bad was it, Ollie?" Tro asks, her tone more gentle than it normally is. I really don't want to tell them.

"Before I was able to get there, he had her up in the air by her throat." Leonard says and my head whips in his direction.

"What matters is that it was handled. I was only informing you in the instance that it became an issue of your safety. That's all there is to it. Nothing else matters." I am using my 'official business' voice.

"That is not all there is to it." Jim says, frustrated. "Just how bad was it before you got here?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." I say with a sigh. Tro looks troubled and I sigh again. "It wasn't just him…you know…my dad used to hit me too. He was never nearly as bad as Marcus…I…" I pull aside my shirt to show them the scar.

"You knew about this and you didn't think to let us know that this psycho might try to come for her?" Jim is pissed at Leonard now.

"Patient confidentiality." He says evenly. "Even if I wanted to let you know, I couldn't betray that. It's her business to tell when she's ready."

"I'm not entirely ready…but I need you guys to know how dangerous he is." I say gently. "What matters is that I'm not going back…he knows that now and that drives him crazy. I'm not doing as he says and so that makes him more violent. Hell…even when I tried to pretend to be compliant that didn't placate him. I'm safer on campus than I am anywhere else right now and so long as it stays that way, everything should be fine. I just want you guys to be careful because he knows about my life here somehow. He found Leonard's parents' home and that's just too close for comfort." I shake my head at the thought. "I'm not telling you this so that you will become angry and attempt to do something, so please don't. I'd rather do everything that I can to just leave that in my past. Please respect my wishes."

"Okay." Jim says after a moment of thought. "But don't you think for a minute that I'm going to let that guy come near you and knock you around."

"I know, Jim." I say gently and then I look to Tro who nods slowly. "Thank you…I really appreciate it." She stands up and hugs me hard. I rest my head against her shoulder, allowing her to feel like she's comforting me. "Everything will eventually be okay…things just aren't great right now."

"I'm supposed to be doing the comforting, thanks." She says jokingly short with me. "What has you trying to handle all of this on your own? You know that we're here for you…"

"Habit?" I ask with a shrug. "I don't know. It's my burden to bear. You guys have your own stuff to worry about and I'm fine on my own."

"We know that you're fine on your own, but that's not the point." Jim says and I look at him. "We're your friends and we're going to back you up no matter what."

"I know, Jim Jam." I say and he shakes his head at the nickname. "I'm trying to get better about handling this stuff on my own, but it's not easy."

"Come here." He says and Tro reluctantly lets go of me. I go over and hug Jim. This isn't something I normally do…I love Jim as if he were my own brother, but we've never been physically close. His hug is comforting though. I know that if the time comes where I need to defend myself, he will be there alongside me. "I love you, Ollie.  
"And I love you too, Jim." I say and again I feel like I'm the one doing the comforting. It's okay…I know that they feel almost betrayed because I kept this from them for so long.

* * *

I'm exhausted. There is absolutely no denying that. Ever since the big fight with Marcus I've thrown myself back into my physical training without restraint. It doesn't hurt like it did when I first started, I'm just tired. Between this and my studies…I'm pretty sure I would be no match for anyone who tried to start anything with me…but for whatever reason I can't stop. Maybe it isn't just that then…what if I'm just trying to keep myself busy to avoid Leonard? Yeah I like him a lot, but it would be entirely too dangerous for me to pursue anything with him. I could never put his family in danger like that, not again. The thought of him around Lucille McCoy sends shivers down my spine. I can't even think of Johanna. Regardless, I can't avoid him now as I have to go to my beginning of semester check-up. I reach the last point of where I can travel indoors and pull my hood up before I set off into the rain at a jog to the clinic. I, of course, reach my destination in no time. Leonard is waiting at the entrance to the clinic with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face. This is because I've put off my physical for as long as I could.

"Dr. McCoy." I greet him with a wave. I put down my hood and shrug out of my jacket. He takes it and hangs it on a peg before he leads the way to one of the exam rooms.

"You know the drill." He says and I salute before I step out of my boots and stand on the scale. He looks confused. "Down ten pounds." He notes on my file. I'm just as shocked as he appears to be. We move over so that he can measure my height. "No change here."

"Thank the Lord." I say, trying to ease some of the tension. No such luck…not even a quirk in his lips. He hands me a gown before he closes the curtain so that I can change into it. I strip down to my underwear and pull the gown on before I hop up onto the table. "Okay." He pulls the curtain back and continues to go about my check-up. Checking my lungs. Feeling my lymph nodes. Heart rate, blood pressure.

"How is that salve helping with the scarring?" He asks which surprises me quite a bit. I didn't think he was in a friendly mood.

"It's helped a lot. Thanks again." I say and he nods, almost a smile on his face. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you're in worse shape than you were last time I checked ya. What's goin' on?" He asks, still my doctor, not my friend.

"I don't know." I answer honestly and he hums. "It could be stress…I am very tired. So maybe it has something to do with that."

"Maybe." He says and then he goes over to a cabinet and gathers a few things. "I'm going to run some blood tests, make sure everything is okay."

"Left arm." I say softly as I hold out the arm to him. He gathers the samples he needs and sets it aside.

"Alright. I'm going to say to lay off the extra physical activity outside of your classes. I know that won't do a lot of good, but I can put down that I recommended it at least. Just because you're in worse shape than you were last time, that doesn't mean that you're technically not in fine enough shape for duty so I can't enforce bed rest or anything like that." He says, making notes as he goes. "That about does it for your check up."

"Am I your last victim?" I ask and he looks at me over his padd before he nods. "Can I buy you a coffee?" I'm relieved to see the familiar quirk in his lip.

"Get dressed, Gray." He says and the look in his eye is almost teasing. I smile a little and he closes the curtain. I redress in my uniform and pull the curtain back myself. "I've just got to put in that you actually did come in and then we can go."

"Okay." I say with a nod and then I wait patiently for him to finish up his work. The next doctor comes in and then we leave the clinic together. We head to the mess hall and each get some coffee before we sit down together. It's not very busy at this time of the evening. Most people have already had dinner and the rest are just the stragglers. "I'm sorry we haven't had much time to catch up, I've been pretty busy with classes." It's not entirely a lie.

"I know ya have." He agrees with a nod. "Don't worry about it." I am though. "Are you sure that's the only thing? You're not feelin' weird because you know I have feelings for you, are ya?"

"Not at all." I say with a shake of my head. "Leonard, that would never be the case. I'm probably one of the luckiest girls that a guy like you would like a girl like me."

"What's that even mean? A girl like you?" He asks and I sit back, pursing my lips. "If this is an age thing…"

"An age thing?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "Do you think that I'm…" I can't help but laugh. "Leonard, you're not quite the old man that you think you are. It's only eight years. If I were sixteen it might be weird, but I'm not I'm twenty-three. If anything, you should find it weird. I'm barely a woman." He rolls his eyes. "I thought we talked about this back in Georgia. Age doesn't matter."

"It just doesn't make sense. That was a damn good kiss." He says and I close my eyes. My mind takes me back to that night…New Year's Eve. The McCoy's were having another party, not as grand as their Christmas party, but still more grand than anything I'd experienced. I was hiding on the front porch close to midnight…he came outside to keep me company and then at midnight….we kissed and it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. He was both gentle and fierce with me. My heart raced in a way that it never had before. He made me feel like I was the most precious thing on the planet…

"It was." I say softly. "Leonard…I don't think you understand just how dangerous it is to be with someone like me. I'm damaged and permanently in danger."

"Ollie." He says with a sigh. "Not that you need to be protected, but I want to do that for you. Johanna will be safe. My folks will be safe. Hell, even if you're worried about Andrew. He will be safe. Dammit, quit denying yourself happiness because you're scared. I'd love to make ya happy…or at least contribute to you bein' happy."

"You do." I say and then I take a calming breath. "Okay…we can try dating if that's what you want to do."

"You make it so unromantic." He says, his tone is teasing. "But you're sure?" I look him in the eye before I smile and nod.

"I don't want to hurt us by denying what I'm feeling…but I also don't want to cause any harm to your family. At the first sign of things going south for them because of something in my past…" I say and he nods.

"I know you'll feel responsible, but it won't be your fault. Nothin's gonna happen." He says and I take a shaky breath. That isn't exactly what I was getting at…but I think he knows that I'll run. "Tomorrow night, do you want to go to dinner with me? Off campus?"

"Okay." I say with a nod. "But just because technically we're dating now, doesn't mean that you get to tell me what to do."

"Darlin', you don't even listen to me as your doctor. Why on Earth would I think that I could get ya to listen any other way?" He asks and I grin. "I wonder how long it'll take Sullivan and Jim to figure it out."

"I like the way you think." I say, my grin turning mischievous. "They have been pretty distracted lately, haven't they?"

"I didn't think you'd noticed with how obsessive you've been with doing your work." He says dryly and I roll my eyes.

"I'm taking a break from the unnecessary stuff. I'm entirely too vulnerable right now." I say and his lips purse into a hard line. "Oh come on, will it take that frown off your face if I start calling you Leonard again?"

"Don't try to sweet talk me now." He grumbles and I shake my head. "Come on, it's time for you to take a nap."

"Leonard, at this point it would pretty much just be falling asleep for the night and Troian is studying something in the room and so I don't want to go back and disturb her." I say with a sigh.

"Then sleep in my room tonight. We've got a couch. I'll sleep there, you can take the bed. Come on." He says as he stands up, taking both of our empty coffee cups. I raise my eyebrows at him. "Don't get that sassy look."

"Don't boss me around." I say as I stand up and toss my hair over my shoulder. "I wouldn't even consider if tomorrow weren't Saturday." He just shakes his head and disposes of our dishes before we head to the residence hall in which we live and to his room that he normally shares with Jim. I know why it feels different now, but that doesn't make it any less weird. My heartrate is quicker.

"So you really picked up nursing on top of your course load?" He asks, setting his pad down on his desk.

"Just how much access do you have to information on me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "And I feel like I mentioned that."

"Maybe to someone that wasn't me." He says grumpily. "You were avoidin' me again." I smile sweetly. "You think you're such a sweetheart."

"I am a sweetheart." I say, tossing my hair again. "And it wasn't intentional. It just worked out that way."

"Yeah, yeah. Here are some clothes you can change into." He says as he hands me some sweats and a tee shirt.

"Thank you." I say and then I go into the bathroom and change. I fold everything neatly and walk out again.

"That salve is workin' real good." He says as he stands up and walks over to me. He gently traces the scar and I look anywhere but at him. He raises his hand to my cheek and to my surprise, I don't flinch away from him. He turns my head so that I'm looking at him and then he kisses me. If it's possible, this kiss is even better than the one we shared on New Year's. I experiment with wrapping an arm around his neck and cupping his cheek with my hand. Marcus was never tender and usually it was just him kissing me.

"Your hands are freezing." He says against my lips and I giggle, looking away and hiding my mouth with one of my hands.

"Sorry." I say and he grins. "Now I'm supposed to be going to sleep." I step out of his arms and go over to the bed where I pull back the covers and lay down. "Goodnight, Leonard."

"Goodnight, Ollie." He says and then the lights dim. I'm already on my way out. I feel the sound in my chest as I hum a response, but it doesn't really register in my ears.

* * *

"Tro…you know you can tell me anything, right?" I ask, looking at the woman who has become my best friend. She looks up from her pad with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah…do I seem like I have something I'm hiding?" She asks and I purse my lips…do I want to push?

"Kind of. Not that you're hiding anything…it has just seemed like something is bothering you." I say and she sets her pad aside. "And I want you to know that you can talk to me as much as I've talked to you." She smiles as she crosses her legs.

"I've just felt weird lately. Thanks for checking on me…I'm not really used to having someone do that." She admits after a moment of thought and I smile. "I'll try and be a little more open."

"It's hard, believe me…I know." I say and then I sigh. "Are you at a good stopping point in your work? I could use some ice cream."

"Girl, you are reading my mind. Want to see if JT and McCoy want to come?" She asks as she gets up and puts her boots on. I step into my own boots as I stand.

"Sure." I say with a nod. "So funny thing. The other night I stayed next door while you were studying, and I woke up with Jim in my face. In my half-asleep state I punched him square in the nose." She nearly falls over, laughing so hard. "Knew you'd enjoy that."

"Why did you wait so long to tell me!?" She cackles. "I could've used this laugh yesterday!"

"Eh, we were both busy." I say, falling victim to her contagious laughter. "Come on." I say and she's still laughing as I drag her out of our room and next door. I press the button, announcing our arrival. Jim opens the door, shirtless as usual. "Get dressed. We're going to get ice cream."

"I'd listen to her, JT." Tro says, trying to keep a straight face. She fails and starts laughing. "That's why you don't creep up on people. Especially while they're sleeping." He gives her an unamused look.

"I hear you." He says and then he gestures for us to come inside. "Hey Bones, the girls are here." My…boyfriend…who was sleeping nearly falls out of bed as he sits up. I glance at the nearest clock…that's what I thought. It's past one in the afternoon.

"Go back to sleep, Leonard." I say gently. "Sorry that air head woke you up like that." I say, tossing a look at Jim, who obviously knew very well that his roommate was sleeping.

"I'm up." He says, his accent thicker in his recently woken state. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Tro and I were taking a break from studying to get ice cream and we thought we'd invite the two of you." I say and he nods. He's fully dressed, so he must have just laid down to take a nap...or he never properly went to bed last night. "But, you're going to go back to sleep and we're going to take Jim so that you can do that in peace."

"Ice cream sounds nice." He says and I give him a look. "And you're one to talk about not gettin' enough sleep. Give me just a moment to freshen up and we'll be on our way." He has an almost indignant look as he walks into their bathroom and the door closes behind him. I roll my eyes. Once Leonard is ready, the four of us make our way off campus and to the ice cream parlor closest to us. It's at the perfect time in the day where the streets aren't busy at all. As we turn the corner, I see Marcus and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach. I hold my arm out and Jim runs into it. Marcus smirks at me, not paying any mind to anyone else.

"Lets go back now." I say in an even tone, maintaining eye contact. His hand moves around his back and I move before the thought even fully forms. I wouldn't put it past him to have a gun. I grab his arm simultaneously as I kick the back of his knee. My instinct was correct. It's a gun. "Marcus. You need to stop coming after me." My tone is stern. "I am not coming back. We are done."

"You've gotten a little too big for your britches." He says and then he jerks out of my hold, throwing an elbow and catching me in the face. Jim is there then, grabbing the gun and pointing it on him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Olivia, go wait with Bones, we'll handle this." He says and I look at him, trying to gauge his control on his emotions. "Trust me."

"I do." I say, my eyes move to Tro. She's on the communicator. I back up a few steps before I turn and walk over to Leonard…but that's when I hear the sound of flesh connecting with the bone of a fist. The sound of metal clattering across the ground and then scuffling. I turn on my heel as Leonard rushes forward. Fear is my dominant emotion. I see Tro drop into a roll and grab the gun. She pops back up, pointing it on Marcus again.

"You really don't want to try that again, shit for brains." She says, her tone is dark. "I will kill you if I have to."

"Damn it, Niki! Just come home and I wouldn't have to do this!" Marcus says and anger floods through me. I take a calming breath.

"I am home." I say and something changes in his eyes. In this moment he reminds me of a wounded animal. Jim has him restrained. I hear the sirens. I wonder if it's SFPD or if it's Starfleet. "I will not be returning to Illinois. Ever. Please….get yourself some help and move on."

"We'll see about that." He says and that's when the MPs arrive. He's taken into custody, we are questioned and then left to our own devices.

"Ollie, you're shaking." Jim says and I shake my head. I feel the tension in my jaw. I'm angry.

"I think I need to go for a run or something." I say and Leonard frowns. "What could possibly be wrong with that?"

"Well…I'll say that I'm worried that you're not really dealing with this." Tro says and I squeeze my hands into fists.

"What is there to deal with? My ex has come after me with the intent of harm more than once since I started here. This has now caused some form of injury to one of my best friends. I'm angry and I want to blow off some steam before I do something that I'll regret. What should I do? Chase him down and beat him up? I've beat him up. Obviously that didn't do anything. I'm sorry that I'm not so visibly angry, but I can assure you that I am not passive about this situation."

"There has to be something that we can do to stop him coming back." Jim says and I sigh, clenching and unclenching my fists again.

"Jim…there is nothing that we can do. Unless I never leave campus again. What do you propose? I won't be safe until I'm up there." I say, gesturing vaguely to the sky with a flick of my wrist.

"It doesn't have to be that way." He says and I shake my head and start walking before I lose my cool. "Ollie!"

"It is that way, Jim!" I shout, turning back around. This is the first time I've shouted in a while and it leaves my throat feeling raw. "But I'm actively taking the steps to get as far away from him as I can. I just have to be smart." I turn and start walking again.

"Just let her blow off some steam." Tro's voice is low. I hear someone walking behind me. I'm assuming that it's Leonard.

* * *

I'm seated in the comfy chair in Tro and I's room. Leonard is seated on the couch, we're waiting for Tro and Jim. They're making me talk to Jim because I've been avoiding him since I yelled at him about a week ago.

"This is bull shit." I say and he artfully ignores me. He just shifts his position and continues reading. "I could overpower you."

"Don't try it." He says, not looking up. "This is for your own good. You can be mad at us all ya want, but you two are driving Sullivan and I nuts."

"It's not my fault you have romantic feelings for me." I say and he shoots me a side eye. "I am an adult. I can decide to do whatever I want."

"Yeah? And then you complain about how you're worried that Jim is never going to want to talk to you again." He starts and I open my mouth to respond, but he continues. "Then Jim worries that you're mad at him and he can't fathom the idea that you are. It's makin' him nuts."

"That's bull shit, I know he's just worried about me. I'm not mad at him at all." I say and he offers a side eye and a slight smile. "Shut up." I sit back and hug my knees again. "So what made you guys decide to force this?"

"Probably the dive roll at lunch." He says and I roll my eyes. "No sane person does that." I give him a crazy smile and it's his turn to roll his eyes. The doors open and Jim walks in with Tro behind him, her arms folded across her chest.

"Sit. Speak." She says but he doesn't listen. He's just pacing. I can see what they mean about him being nuts…he's particularly squirrely today.

"Jim, I'm not mad at you." I say and he stops. "You think I don't realize how incredibly messed up this situation is? For so long I thought that boy loved me and then one day everything came crashing down and I was getting the shit knocked out of me on a daily basis, again." I'm pacing now. "I finally grow the pair I needed to get the hell out of there and it's still following me. He has this delusion that I am his property and he was raised in the toxic environment of hunting down 'what is yours'." I use air quotes. "It is disgusting, but that's how it is. Star Fleet is literally the only place he doesn't have anyone and so I need you to let me deal with this. If I'm in trouble, I promise that I will come to you. All of you." I look around the room. "I burned all of my bridges when I came here and I am fine with that. It brought me to you assholes."

"You are in a mood, aren't you?" Tro asks and I laugh as I go over and sit down again, putting my face in my hands. "It's frustrating…watching you try to go through this alone. I just want to squeeze your beautiful face and tell you to let me handle it."

"I have that effect on some people." I say into my hands. "But I've let people handle things for me my entire life. I'm trying to find balance now, so be patient with me like I have been with you."

"Ollie-pop…." Jim says and I look up and see him standing with his arms held out for me. He's giving an innocent smile.

"Jim, you're the brother I always wanted." I say as I stand and hug him. "If something happened to any of you because of me…"

"That won't happen." He says, squeezing me in a comforting way. "I promise. Did you see how incredibly bad ass Tro and I were together? And we make a pretty good team too."

"And Leonard was pretty great when he punched his lights out…" I say thoughtfully. "Nope, too easy. I'm just gonna do it all myself." I nod. He lets go of me and holds my face for a moment before he lets go.

"Gah, it is such a beautiful little face isn't it?" Jim asks Tro who nods thoughtfully. "Too bad we won't let you do it alone. I guess you'll just have to deal with it."

"Three against one." Leonard says with a shrug. "I do believe that means that we win. Since Sullivan is your emergency contact, I can technically divulge information if I deem a situation an emergency." I give him a withering look. "Oh, I'm shakin' in my boots."

"Watch it, McCowboy." I say and Tro laughs out loud. I go over and I hug him. He wraps his arms around me protectively.

"Wait a minute." My best friend says and then she points at us. "When did this happen!?" Jim looks confused.

"What are you talking about?" He looks between the two of us and then looks at Tro in question.

"Well…. technically I guess in Georgia. Then I avoided him for a while when we got back." I say thoughtfully.

"You avoided me as much as you could before then. Andrew thought it was hilarious." Leonard says and Jim looks between us again. I see the cogs turning. "Good lord, Jim. Do we need to spell it out for ya?"

"Wait! What!?" He exclaims, jumping back. "But Ollie doesn't like Bones." He says like the thought is crazy. "Oh….ohhhh." He looks between the two of us again. "So that's why you've stayed the night so many times."

"No, that is because I'm a considerate roommate unlike you James Kirk." I say, putting my hands on my hips. "Leonard and I are 'dating' I guess, until something goes wrong and I convince myself that it's reasonable to run away."

"In which case I'll track ya down and drag ya back." He says, rolling his eyes. His accent comes out a little thicker in his agitation. "And you guess we're dating?"

"Oh come on, it sounds like we're fifteen." I say with a roll of my eyes. "You are my boyfriend, Leonard. There, are you happy?"

"Yeah." He says with a sweet smile. "But you're right, that does sound like we're school children or something."

"You do look happy like a school boy, McCowboy." Tro says with a laugh. "But I guess it's a good look. As long as the two of you are happy and you realize that I will eviscerate you if you hurt her."

"There will be no evisceration." I say in my no-nonsense voice. "He and I are adults. I'm not a little sister to be defended. So no evisceration unless that's also the case if I hurt him. Jim, are you going to eviscerate me?"

"No evisceration." He says almost glumly and Leonard throws up his hands. "I think we should celebrate."

"Now you sound like a lame grandpa, Jim." I say and he holds his heart like I've hurt him. "Nothing's changed except titles. We spend the same amount of time we ever spent with each other before."

"Yeah, but how much of that time is dirty stuff now?" He asks and Tro and I both whack him. "What? We need to establish parameters. I know you'd get super embarrassed if I walked in on anything happening."

"You're such a pervert." I say with a roll of my eyes. I go off to my room and close the door. The relationship hasn't even been like that. Yes, the kisses are amazing, but nothing racy has happened at all. I walked away because it made me feel embarrassed. I really don't know how to be intimate with Leonard. What I had with Marcus…well…I guess thinking back it was more like sexual assault than anything.

"Ollie, I'm sorry." Jim says to the door. "You know I have a hard time controlling myself. I don't even know what I'm saying sometimes until I'm half-way through it."

"I know." I say dryly and then I open the door. "But you're going to monitor yourself around me, or you're going to find out what I'm like when I'm in a really bad mood."

"Yes ma'am." He says as he salutes to me and I shake my head. "So you forgive me for both things?"

"There was nothing to forgive from before. If anything, I should apologize to you for yelling at you. But yes, I forgive your crass comment." I say and he hugs me tight again.

"It's so sweet that you apologize for yelling at me. Those two can be real jerks sometimes." He says and I shake my head.

"You get yourself into more trouble than anything." I say and he laughs as he lets go of me.

"Well I promised Cadet Kirk I'd show him some of my project I've been working on if he stopped acting like an idiot long enough for the two of you to talk, so we're going to go do that." Tro says and I nod. "See ya for dinner?"

"Always." I say with a wave and the two of them leave. "So…I think we need to have a conversation."

"A little less intimidatin' than 'we need to talk'." He says as he sits down on the couch. I go over and sit beside him. "What's on your mind?"

"So…Jim, as crass as he is, made me remember something pretty significant and it scares me." I say and his posture is less stressed and more concerned now. "Intimacy."

"Don't pay attention to anything that idiot says." Leonard says comfortingly. "We'll take things at our own pace."

"It's not that I'm not interested in something like that." I say, not being able to bring myself to look at him. "I need to be honest with you because when you care about someone, that's what you do." That's more for me. "You have to swear on everything you love you won't go on a killing spree."

"Darlin', I promise that you can tell me anything." He says and I smile and then I sigh. "Go ahead when you're ready."

"So…my only other relationship was with Marcus and well…okay." I sigh again and I look at him. "All 'intimacy' with him, looking back now, was more like assault than intimacy and so I am pretty much completely in the dark on most things."

"I promise, if you ever feel that comfortable with me, it will be nothing like that." He says and I feel my shoulders relax a little bit. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Don't be sorry for me." I say as I hug him. "I don't want people to be sorry for me anymore. Just help me move forward."

"That, I can do." He says as he tilts my chin up and gives me a kiss that makes my head spin.

"I just had the most corny thought on the planet and I'm going to make you leave before you make me say it." I say and his arms lock around me and he has that grin on his face. "I shouldn't have said anything!"

"Nope, because you're so dang cute when you're flustered like that." He says, laughing as I try to wriggle out of his hold.

"Fine, fine." I say and I stop struggling. We're in a more reclined position now. "It's really dumb, but every single time you kiss me its like…" I frown, trying to form the words.

"It's not dumb." He says and then he kisses me again. "You make me feel things I never thought I'd feel again."

"Good or a bad thing?" I ask and he situates us so that we're laying on the couch, his arms around me and I'm laying across his chest.

"At first I was afraid it was a bad thing, but now I'm definitely sure it's a good thing." He says and I smile. "I don't know what it is about you, but you make all the other garbage I've dealt with before feel like it doesn't matter."

"You make me feel as safe as I think I'll ever feel on this planet." I say and he smiles. "Especially like this."

"Well I would be more than happy to offer my services to you whenever our schedules are able to make it work." He says and I smile. "And even when they don't, we can sneak every once in a while. Just promise you'll stop avoidin' me."

"No promises of that nature, unfortunately. I'm really good at avoiding people." I say and he just kisses me. "Hmm…still no promises." Another kiss. "I don't think my mind has been swa-" This kiss is a little bit more. I pretend to think about it. "Sorry, you might have to kiss me again to try and convi-" My mind blanks momentarily. "As a linguist, I'm appalled at the lack of words."

"Yeah, but as my girlfriend how do you feel?" He asks and I respond by kissing him. "You said you didn't know how to be intimate."

"I'm a quick study." I say and he smirks in such a way… "And I'm dating a more experienced man. So I've got a good teacher."

"I am more than happy to continue to impart my knowledge to you." He says as he tucks some strands that had come loose from my braid behind my ear. "Again, anytime you like."

"So…let's study something else." I say and his eyebrows furrow together before I kiss him, trying to imitate the way he makes me feel breathless. His arms tighten around me and he starts to move but then he stops.

"Darlin', I really think we should take this a step at a time." He says and I feel the heat rise to my face before I can try to control my reaction. "No, don't take it that way. Believe me, I am kicking myself as we speak." I try not to think of the worst case scenario.

"No, it's totally fine. I've just made a complete ass out of myself. God, I'm turning into Jim." I say and I try to get up, but he stops me. I don't look at him

"Ollie, look at me." He says gently, then he kisses my cheek. "Please, Darlin'." After a moment I begrudgingly look at him. "First of all, you are not turning into Jim." I smile a little bit at my overreaction on that part. "Second, I just don't want to mess this up. As much as I am certain that I would enjoy every single moment spent with you in that sort of situation, I want to be sure that you enjoy it as well and I'm worried that you feel pressure because of what that ape said. I mean, you would probably enjoy it, but I don't want to rush anything."

"What if I told you that I felt no pressure at all?" I ask and he just keeps looking at me patiently. "I do have these feelings."

"I am incredibly glad you have these feelings and we will sort through them." He says and then we sit up. "I don't want there to be any chance of you being afraid of this. The only time you ever looked afraid of me, it killed me."

"I wasn't afraid of you." I say, closing my eyes. "The situation I had been in had shaken me up. I mean, you would be shaken up too if your ghost was chasing you."

"Regardless. I never want you to look at me with those eyes again if I can help it, and I can this time." He says and I nod. "I mean unless you are just in dire need."

"Pump the breaks, Cowboy." I say sharply and he laughs. "It's not very nice to talk to your emotionally vulnerable girlfriend that way."

"You know I was kidding." He says as he presses a kiss to my temple. "We will address those feelings soon. I just don't think today is that day."

"I can see why you'd say that." I agree finally. "Now either leave or let's watch a movie that will make me forget about how embarrassed I am."

"Don't be embarrassed." He says with a smirk. "What movie would you like to watch?" He puts his arm around me and I curl up at his side. The screen comes up and he begins scrolling through our options.

"I don't really care what." I say and he hums before he selects a random movie. It's a classic that I've never seen. He presses a kiss to the top of my head.

* * *

"So I heard a rumor." Uhura says as we jog. I give her a skeptic side eye look. "I know, but it concerns you and so I wanted to hear anything straight from the source."

"Well alright then." I say with a sigh as I slow to a fast-paced walk. "What was the rumor you heard?"

"Psycho ex-boyfriend stalking you?" She asks and I sigh again. "I know that we aren't necessarily close…"

"The important part is that I'm here now and I have no intentions of going back…" I say and then I smile a little. "Actually…I'm seeing someone."

"Oh? Anyone I might know?" She asks and I try to think if she might run in any of the circles he's in.

"He's a doctor. Leonard McCoy." I say and she raises her eyebrows a little. "I met him the same time I met Troian and Jim and it just kind of happened?"

"As long as he treats you well." She says and I nod, smiling a little. "He's older, isn't he?"

"Age doesn't really matter to me." I shrug. "Now let's pick up the pace, slow poke." I grin and start jogging again.

"Good afternoon, ladies." Jim says as he jogs up on my left. "Oh Uhura, I hadn't noticed it was you!"

"Buzz off." She says and I laugh. "I don't know how you can stand to be around this Neanderthal."

"Well he's sweet to me." I say with a shrug. "To what do we owe the pleasure, Jim?" He grins.

"See? I'm a pleasure. Anyway, saw you guys running and thought I would join you for a moment to say hi since you don't make a point to make sure Tro hasn't killed me yet anymore." He says and I shrug again.

"The way I see it, if she does, you probably deserved it." I say and that has Uhura laughing. He watches her as she laughs and I have to jerk him out of the way of a pole. "Natural selection might do it for her though."

"You're spicy today. I'll have to warn your McCowboy." He says and I roll my eyes. "Anyway, see you guys later!" He jogs off.

"He's like an annoying brother, but he has a good heart." I say fondly. "Sorry he annoys the hell out of you though."

"Believe me, I'm used to idiots like him." She says and I laugh. "How do you avoid them?"

"Since starting here, eight times out of ten I'm walking with Jim or Leonard, so I guess they take that as the hint to not bother me?" I phrase it as more of a question. "Who knows? Maybe I just have that look about me? Don't mess with me or I'll kick your face off." We laugh. "I know, maybe you should come out with me one night. I don't drink, but there's this jazz club that Jim found for my birthday. It has great music."

"That sounds like a lot of fun. We'll have to see when our schedules can sync up again." She says and I smile. "You didn't strike me as the dancing sort." I laugh.

"Yeah, I don't like to leave a lot of downtime. I do think I'm going to drop engineering though and focus more on the nursing." I say and she nods.

"I think that'd be a good idea. I overheard Commander Spock commenting on it one time." She says and there's something in the way she says his name. I don't think anyone else would really pick it up. It must be the same kind of thing with Jim and Tro, they're just meant to happen.

"At first I picked up the medical stuff in spite of his comments on my schedule." I say and that has her laughing. "Now I joke that I picked up nursing so if Leonard and I get assigned to the same ship I can annoy him in the med bay when I'm not needed as a mediator."

"So you think it's something that's going to be long term?" She asks and I hum. "I didn't mean…"

"No, I'm glad you said it. That's a good thing to think about. I think so…After what I left behind…if I were to end up with another guy it would be someone like Leonard." I say and she smiles. "I don't know, it's weird. Maybe I'm just a serial monogamist."

"Hey, there are worse things." She says and then she sighs. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

"I appreciate it Uhura...you too." I say and then we high five. "And here is two miles." We stop. I check my watch. "And now I have to go in for my check up." I say and she gives me a look. "It is a genuine check up." I scoff. "I was underweight last time. Since I've been yoyoing so much he wants to keep an eye on me, as any good doctor would."

"Wait a minute, you date your attending physician?" She asks, holding her stomach as she laughs. "I was just kidding, but this is even better."

"Don't be an ass." I say with a laugh, gently elbowing her. "He was my doctor before he was my boyfriend. They guy who was my doctor gave me weird vibes."

"I bet I know who you're talking about. I would've switched too." She says and then she stretches. "Well you better get over to your non-sexual check up. I'll see you in class."

"See ya." I say with a wave before I head off to the medical compound. Leonard glances up as I enter and them almost does a double take. "Hey, since I've been good can we just do a weigh in?" I give a sweet smile.

"That's not how it works." He says as he pulls up my file. "If you weren't yoyoing, I'd see you here less."

"Now how truthful did those words feel?" I ask and he gives me a look. We go through the same protocol. "Do you schedule these at the end of your shift on purpose?" He gives me a little smirk as he types something in.

"Is this tender?" He asks, pressing on my side. I give a so-so gesture. "Drink less coffee and more water."

"Hypocrite." I say and he gives me a look. "So have I yoyoed again? Or am I in a nice, normal percentile."

"Edge of normal." He says and then he updates my file. "I probably won't have you come in officially again. I know how much you hate taking time out of your day to do this."

"I trust you." I say and he looks at me, trying to suppress that tender smile I know he wants to give me. "But I feel like you should be careful with how liberal you are being my doctor. I said I was coming in for a check up and a friend of mine thought it was a dirty sort of check up. Like some bad porno or something." I laugh. He just shakes his head. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Starfleet knows about us. It's fine." He says and I shrug. "Doctors look after their loved-ones all the time." He mutters and I kind of like being referred to as a loved-one. I hear as Dr. Lee walks in. "Alright, you're all done."

"Thank you, Dr. McCoy." I say as I hop down off of the table. I go behind the curtain and dress again before I head out of the examination room. "Good evening, Dr. Lee. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, how about yourself?" He asks, turning his full attention to me. I like that about him, he's definitely the more personable doctor while Leonard is more no-nonsense.

"I'm normal for once." I say and he laughs. "Right? So hopefully that means this is my last visit for a while."

"Well, we will miss seeing your smile around here." He says and that brings out the smile apparently. He looks to Leonard. "I've got it from here. Have a good night, you two."

"Thanks." I say with a smile. Leonard grabs his bag and we leave together. Clouds have covered the sky since I went in. It's going to rain. "Do you want to grab dinner and take it back?"

"Sounds good to me." He says and we head in the direction of the mess hall. "I haven't been able to figure out why you do bounce back and forth so much."

"I don't eat as much when I'm under a lot of stress." I say and he stops briefly before he catches up. "Medical mystery solved. I work out the same, I just eat less."

"You need to replace those calories." He says and I wave him off. "And I recommend participating in more stress-reducing activities Cadet Gray."

"Yes, Dr. McCoy." I say, mimicking a serious tone. We make it to the mess hall and grab our food before we head back to our residence hall. "I'm going to grab a shower."

"Alright, I'm going to change and just let me know when you want me to come over." He says and I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek before I go into my room. I shower and dress and I'm about to message Leonard when I get a call from his mom.

"Lucille, hi." I say as I answer. This is the first time she has called me and honestly I feel a little weird about it. I haven't talked to her since he and I started actually dating.

"You were on my mind and Leonard mentioned how this was one of your free times usually, so I thought I would call and see how you were." She says and all weirdness melts away.

"I'm doing well, actually. My diet has finally balanced out and I'm in 'on the edge of normal', in the words of your son." I say and she laughs.

"That's good to hear." She says fondly. "He worries about you probably more than he lets on."

"He's been particularly verbal as of late." I say as I sit down and begin brushing through my hair. "How is Thomas doing?"

"He's doing well. He told me to tell you he said hello. Right now, he's visiting with Andrew." She says and I hum. "There was something I wanted to ask you, sweetheart."

"Anything for you, Ms. Lucille." I say and she laughs. One time before I left she asked me how I was so sweet and so I told her my tricks. That's one of them.

"Would you do me a favor and tell me honestly how Leonard is doing right now?" She asks and I frown to myself. "I know he doesn't hide things from me, but he just hasn't seemed like himself lately."

"His course load is a little heavier this semester." I say gently. "I don't know if he mentioned, but there was another encounter with my ex and so that might have stressed him out. But that was a few weeks ago now and nobody really got hurt."

"I wish that boy would just leave you alone." She says with a ferocity that honestly surprises me a little. "You'd think he'd take a hint."

"Maybe one of these days." I say gently. "But I'm not worrying about it, I'm just focusing on my studies and moving forward."

"I'm glad." She says and I smile to myself. "Also, I wanted to say congratulations on your new relationship."

"So he did tell you." I say with a somewhat shy laugh. "I wasn't sure if I was something to write home about or not."

"Sweetheart, you have no idea how truly happy you make that boy." She says and I smile. "To be honest, I'd hoped that when you came for Christmas that you two were an item."

"Not quite." I say with a laugh. "But it was a few days after we got back. I feel like I can tell you this without it getting back to him, but it feels kind of surreal."

"I'm glad that you sound so happy." She says and I can tell that she means it. "Well I won't keep you from your dinner. Don't be a stranger, call anytime you'd like."

"Yes ma'am." I say and then we hang up. I message Leonard and shortly I hear the ping announcing his arrival. I press the button to let him in from where I sit. "Sorry, I got distracted." I go back to brushing my hair.

"No need to apologize, Darlin'." He says and I smile. "Did you have a good run today?" He sits down on the couch.

"I did. But you would've chortled, Jim almost ran into a pole while he was checking Uhura out." I say and that gets the exact reaction. "That lovable idiot."

"Well the idiot part is right." He says and I laugh. "Have you gotten any funny phone calls lately?"

"No funny phone calls." I say neutrally. I wonder if Lucille had threatened to check in with me. I don't want to hide anything from him though. "I did just get off the phone with your mom. She was checking on me."

"I'll bet she was." He grumbles and I look over at him. "She says I'm not bein' myself." I feel a little guilty.

"How much of that is my fault?" I ask and he looks me in the eye and raises an eyebrow in disapproval. "It's a fair question."

"None of it is your fault. Maybe I'm getting space madness." He says and I widen my eyes and shrug comedicly, but then I think about it.

"Is that something you can bounce back from? I know we joke about it a lot…." I say and he laughs.

"Yes. It is treatable." He says and I mime wiping sweat off of my forehead. "There's just a lot of work to do."

"That there is." I say as I finish brushing my hair. I set the brush down and braid it before I go over to him. I sit down beside him and scoot the coffee table closer and I go about setting up for our dinner. "I'm dropping engineering, so I can dedicate more time to annoying you in the med bay."

"Joy." He says and I know that it's fake sarcasm. "It would be kinda nice if we all ended up together, wouldn't it?"

"You mean romantically or ship assignment wise?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. "It's going to happen. If not already. It's not going to be like a normal relationship at first though. I'm getting friends with benefits vibes."

"Yeah? We'll see how it goes." He says and I laugh. "I guess it is your job to read people."

"To an extent. I'm getting better at it." I say and I give him a look of warning. "I think Uhura has the hots for a commanding officer."

"It's not polite to gossip." He teases me and I laugh. "But then again, you're one to talk. Dating your attending physician."

"I can switch to Dr. Lee." I say with a shrug and he gives me a look. "What? You're the one saying it like it's a bad thing." I bring up the screen and turn on a random movie for background noise. We're mostly quiet for a while, just enjoying each other's company. I guess that's really what we've been doing all along.


	6. Two-Way Street

_Hey everyone! I wanted to get another update in before my semester kicks into full swing! I hope that you're all enjoying Ollie as much as I am. It's been really fun exploring her as a character! I'll keep this brief, but as usual, I do enjoy hearing constructive criticism or how you're feeling about the story so far!_

* * *

I circle the ring, keeping my sparring partner in front of me. He is a great deal bigger than I am and he definitely has more muscle. This is going to be interesting. He lunges for me and I sidestep him and then things kick off. I use elbows and knees to make my attacks more effective. He grabs me by the shoulders and fear takes over.

"No!" I scream and then I punch him in the solar plexus as hard as I can manage and he falls over. "I need to go." I don't even bother for the instructor to give me permission before I'm out the door. I find an empty hallway and I put my head in my hands as I slide down the wall, trying to manage my breathing. I've never freaked out like this before, what am I doing?

"Gray?" I look up and see Uhura. She sets her bag down before she sits on her knees in front of me and she takes my hands. "Breathe." She orders and I take a shuddering gasp. I'd been holding my breath? "Now in…" She breathes with me until I've calmed down. "Are you okay?"

"I should be okay." I say and she takes my hands. "I need to go and make sure Simmons is okay."

"I'm sure he's fine." She says and then she glances. "Kirk is coming, you want me to hold him off?"

"No, it's fine." I say as I take back my hands and I stand. She stands as well, picking up her bag. "Hi and bye, Jim." I walk past him and he doubles around and steps into my path.

"Ollie, what's going on?" He looks at me and anger causes his eyebrows to furrow. "What happened?"

"I freaked out. Okay? I was sparring, Simmons grabbed me wrong and I could have really hurt him just now. So, I need to make sure he's okay." I say and the anger turns more to concern. I wipe my face one more time before I step around him and go back to my class. Simmons is sitting up at least, which is a relief. "Sorry…" I say sheepishly as I sit down in front of him.

"No, I'm sorry." He says as he rubs the spot on his chest. "You good?" I nod and stand before I offer him my hand. He grips it and I help him up. "Look, you don't have to tell me your life story, but…"

"No life stories here. It doesn't matter. I'm dealing with it." I say and then I smile. "You ready to go again?" The rest of the period goes by without incident. Since it's my last class for the day, I go to the gym directly afterwards and I begin working with the punching bag. No doubt Jim will have told Leonard and so it's only a matter of time before he hunts me down. He's not in the clinic today. About half an hour goes by before I spot him in my peripheral vision. I put my fists down and sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks and I go over to the bench and take off the gloves.

"I don't want to, but I probably should." I say and he sits down beside me. I unwind the wraps and he gives me a look. My right fist is bloody. "To the showers with me, then we can talk." I kiss his cheek and run away before he has the chance to stop me. I shower quickly and clean up my hand with the first aid kit meant for minor injuries one might sustain while training. I dress in my uniform from my locker before I head out. Leonard is waiting by the entrance to the women's locker room. "See? Like it never happened." I show him my hand.

"So Jim said you 'freaked out'. What's that mean?" He asks as we start walking, he takes my bag from me.

"I was sparring with Simmons and he grabbed me wrong, so I punched him really hard and then I went and took a minute." I say, not wanting to admit that I had a panic attack.

"He said you'd obviously been cryin'." He says, giving me a look. "I want to be here for you, Darlin', you've just got to let me."

"I know." I say softly. "It's just stupid. Yeah, he has a similar build, but he looks nothing like him. And I know Simmons would never hurt someone unless he had to."

"Olivia, look at me." Leonard says and I stop and look up and into his eyes. "What you experienced the past twelve years of your life was traumatic and it makes sense that sometimes you might struggle with that. Especially in sparring like that."

"I don't have post traumatic stress." I say firmly and he places his hand on my cheek before he kisses the top of my head.

"I know ya don't." He says and I sigh. "But that doesn't mean you won't struggle every once in a while. Your body learns to react a certain way to different stimuli and it's like you said, he grabbed you wrong."

"It still pisses me off." I say and he shakes his head. "I owe Jim and Uhura an apology." We start walking again.

"I don't know about Uhura, but you don't need to apologize to Jim. He gets it." He says and I sigh. "Don't beat yourself up. Let's go grab dinner then we can watch your favorite movie."

"We always watch my favorite movies, why don't we watch yours?" I ask and he shrugs. We reach the mess hall and grab our meals before we head up. It's the same drill as usual when we hang out here. He changes in his room then comes over to mine. We settle in.

* * *

Troian hums as she cuts my hair for me. She's in an eerily good mood, not that I'm going to complain about it. I like seeing her happy. She finishes up by blending the ends together then she smiles at me in the mirror.

"There, what do you think of that?" She asks as she removes the towel from around my shoulders.

"That's perfect. Thanks, Honey." I say as I stand up and run my fingers through it. "My head feels about ten pounds lighter."

"I bet it does." She says as she gathers the towel from the floor and dumps the hair into the trash. "Now hit the showers, you've got a date to prepare for."

"Is it really a date if you and Jim are there too?" I ask dubiously and she rolls her eyes before she exits the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I turn the water on before I pitch my clothes into the hamper. Once the water is warm enough, I jump in and take a quick shower. When I'm finished, I dry off and then scrub my hair with the towel before I wrap it around myself and head out of the bathroom. Tro's door is closed which right now feels weird, but I go to my room regardless and put on shorts and a tank top to wear while I get ready. I sit down in front of the mirror and apply my typical products to my hair before I blow dry it. Once I finish with that, I add some order to the curls by using a curling iron. Next, I move onto applying a minimal amount of makeup. I do a lighter look on my eyes and elect for a deep berry-colored lip stick. It's the kind that won't go anywhere until I say otherwise. I set the look with a setting spray before I get up and put on the olive-green swing dress I laid out earlier. I fold my black leather jacket over my arm and grab the black, low-heeled ankle boots and go out to the living area. I lay the jacket over the back of the couch and set the boots down before I seat myself and study to occupy my time until everyone else is ready. After a few minutes, Jim and Tro come from her room and they have 'business' looks on their face.

"So, Ollie, first of all you look absolutely stunning. You're going to knock Bones' socks off. But, uh, I've got some bad news." He says as he sits down next to me on the couch. "Marcus slimed his way out somehow."

"It was only a matter of time." I say, my demeanor way more cool and calm than I actually feel.

"You okay?" Tro asks, perching on the arm of the arm of the couch and I shrug, trying to remain indifferent. The door alerts us to Leonard's arrival and Tro lets him in, which brings about a whole new set of emotions. I put my head in my hands. Jim rubs my back gently. Leonard crouches down in front of me and he takes my hands.

"Darlin', look at me please." He says and I bring my eyes to his. "Everything is gonna be alright. You're not in this alone."

"I don't think the three of you understand quite how terrified I am of him hurting you." I say with a sigh. "I get it, I know how much you guys care for me, but that's why I'm so scared and I don't know how to not feel that way."

"You don't have to not be scared that he'll hurt us." Tro says with her arms folded across her chest. "I have plenty of shit from my past that I'm afraid of catching up and hurting you. That waste of space still has his hooks in you, controlling you because he knows you're scared."

"Nobody expects you to just be over it." Leonard says and I lay my forehead on his shoulder. He puts his arms around me. "Nothin' bad has happened, so for now let's just play it by ear."

"Negative." I say with a sigh. "If he can't get to me here, he'll aim for something else to hurt me. The only thing I have not here is your family. He obviously knows where your parents live."

"He's not gonna lay a finger on any of 'em." He says and then he kisses my cheek. "Now come on, we've got back up plans."

"We figured you wouldn't feel like going to the club like we had planned, and you ladies look too gorgeous to not go somewhere, so we set a little something up." Jim says with a shrug. Leonard stands and gently pulls me up with him. I can't help the small smile as I slip on the boots and then he helps me into my jacket. "Hey Tro, come with me for a minute."

"Yup." She says and they leave the room. Very subtle of them. I sigh and slide my arms around Leonard, underneath his jacket. His arms settle around me.

"You really are absolutely breathtaking, Darlin'." He says and again, I can't help the smile. He does that to me.

"Am I really worth all of this trouble?" I ask and he gently pulls me back by my shoulders so that he can look me in the eye easily.

"First of all, you are not the trouble. Second of all, your past comes with ya no matter who you are. You met the harpy."

"Yeah, but the harpy doesn't consistently try to hunt you down and kill you." I say and he cups my face.

"Maybe not, but she's real unpleasant." He says and then he kisses my forehead. "Darlin', whatever you come with is worth it.

"If you say so." I say and he gives me a look. "Now I thought you said we had back up plans to attend to."

"Real subtle change of topic." He says dryly but we leave the room none the less and head down to the main entrance where Jim and Tro are waiting for us. Jim takes the lead. I notice other cadets in varying styles of dress heading the same direction as we are, which is the mess hall. Once we enter, I notice a large screen at the end of the room.

"How on Earth did you guys manage this?" I ask as I look around. Jim leads the way over to some seats that are roped off and he moves the rope.

"A movie night is an excellent way to boost cadet morale." Tro says with a wink as she takes a seat. "At least that's what Jim told Big Sul, who then pulled strings. He feels awful that the slime ball walked, so since it's safer for you here…" She shrugs.

"You guys need to quit pulling strings for me. I'm not that special." I say as I elbow Jim in the ribs. He laughs as he rubs the spot.

"You are though, so have a seat. We will return with snacks." He says and I sit down before he and Leonard go off to get said snacks.

"There really are a lot of people." I say as I look around. "I have to say that I'm impressed that they were able to pull this together and get the word out in such a short amount of time."

"It really is a good way to boost morale. If this goes well, it might be implemented at least once a month if not every Saturday." She says and I smile. "We're hoping for every Saturday though. This is a good way to get you away from studying obsessively for at least a few hours."

"Hey, we all have a lot to learn." I say with a shrug. "And I can do both." I take out my tablet, which I'd smuggled and she takes it.

"You shouldn't have done that. You can have this back at the end of the night." She says as she tucks it away. I regard her dryly. "This is supposed to help you relax. Now shut up and cuddle with your boyfriend." I look over and see the boys returning with drinks and snacks. Jim and Tro then put some distance between us.

"Now I got you that tea you like and then a couple of your favorites." Leonard says as he hands me the mug. I smile.

"That's so sweet, I thought that your delicate Southern roots would cause you to burst into flames for making Earl Gray tea." I say and he gives me a look.

"It may be the wrong way to drink tea, but I want ya to be relaxed and helps helps." He says as he sits down beside me and puts his arm around my shoulders. "Besides, you like it sweet enough that it almost passes."

"Almost." I say with a laugh. I take a drink before I set it down. "Now, you have to agree that this is an awful lot of trouble just for me."

"Cadet morale." He shrugs. "What can ya do? As a doctor, I highly recommend havin' activities to help alleviate stress. That's bad for your health, ya know."

"I knew that I'd been doing something wrong." I say like it's a new discovery. "Wow, you're so smart." I go for another drink of tea. The lights dim, which again has me shaking my head at how much effort is and has gone into all of this and the movie begins. It's a newer one, but I don't really care. I just enjoy movies in general. In spite of the fact that Marcus is no longer in custody, I find myself able to actually relax. After the movie, we're walking towards the exit when someone takes my hand and spins me out and then back into them.

"Why Olivia Gray, if you aren't the prettiest girl in the room!" Mateo Juarez says and I laugh since I know he's a friend and isn't going to try and kill me. "Don't you worry, McCowboy. I don't play for that team." He winks at Leonard who has a cranky look on his face, moreso than normal. "Gray and I are the psychos doing both linguistics and nursing. So, we run back and forth between the buildings together all the time."

"It's good PT, quit complaining." I say as I gently elbow him. "Leonard McCoy, Mateo Juarez. Juarez, he prefers McCoy."

"Only when it isn't his sweet little thang." He says and I laugh as he releases me. "It's nice to meet you, McCoy. I've heard a lot about you."

"Literally all you've heard about him is that he's my boyfriend and he's a doctor." I say with a laugh.

"That's a lot for you." He says, bumping my hip with his. "I've been trying to get this sweet little cupcake to come out of her shell, but she's stubborn."

"That's for sure." Leonard says and I scoff. "You take pride in bein' a pain in the ass." That makes me giggle a little bit and he briefly smiles before he remembers we're in public apparently. "But it's nice to meet you too, Juarez."

"Well, I'll let the two of you return to your date. I just had to come over and tell you how stunning you are. And the new hair cut? I love it. You're much more of an Olivia now." He says and then he waves. "Audios!" He's gone.

"He is quite the character, isn't he?" Leonard asks as we start walking again and I smile fondly.

"Yeah, but he's been a good friend for the past several weeks. We quiz each other on our daily scrambles to class." I say and Leonard shakes his head.

"Of course that's what a good friend is to you." He says and I laugh. "But he does bring out the sass in you."

"You love the sass." I say and then I look around for Jim and Tro, but I haven't seen them since about half way through the movie. "I wonder where our children have gone off to."

"They're fine." He says dismissively. "Would you like to go for an evening stroll, my Darlin'?"

"Sure." I smile. Once we are outside, I take his arm and he puts his hand over mine. "I really like this."

"It's not bad at all." He agrees and we lapse into a comfortable silence. We're walking along one of my typical jogging routes, so I know the area well and I feel safe. Again, in spite of Marcus. Tro is right…by being so afraid of what might happen, I am still letting him control me. And what for? I decided to leave that behind. Since I'm not there, I don't really see him going to cause trouble with the McCoy family.

"Leonard, wait." I say and I walk over to a bench and sit down. He takes a seat beside me and rests his arm along the back of the bench.

"What's wrong, Darlin?" He asks and I purse my lips as I think. "If I've said it once, I'll say it a million times more. You can tell me anything."

"I'm just afraid of messing this up." I say, essentially trying to recede into myself. I have butterflies in my stomach. "Because you've been through a lot and so I don't want you to get freaked out by me either."

"Darlin', I don't think there's anything you could say that would freak me out at this point." He says as he pries one of my hands away from where my arms had been crossed over my stomach.

"Leonard, I think I love you." I say as I look at him. A couple of expression cross his face. At first he's thoughtful but then he smiles.

"You know? I'm glad you said that, because I think I love you too." Then he kisses me. "I thought I'd be damned before I said that to another woman, but there is no doubt in my mind. You are somethin' else."

"That's part of what I was afraid of." I say and he wraps his arms around me. "That and the what-ifs."

"I can't guarantee that the what-ifs are completely impossible, but I do promise that no matter what happens I'm going to be here for ya." He says and I lean my forehead against his chest.

"How is it that the drunk doctor who made sure my eyeball wasn't going to fall out is actually the perfect man?" I ask and he laughs.

"Darlin', I am a man of many talents." He stands up and pulls me with him. He tucks my arm into the crook of his elbow again and we continue walking. "Are you warm enough?"

"Leonard, I'm from the Midwest. This is just about shorts weather." I say with a laugh and he shakes his head. "Granted, I'd probably be wearing shorts and a sweatshirt."

"Doesn't that seem a little redundant to you?" He asks and I shrug. "We can head back and you can study like you were wantin' to. I've got some material I need to look over too."

"Oh, you speak my language." I wink at him and he laughs. We make our way to our residence hall and part ways briefly. I go into my room and wash my makeup off in the bathroom before I retreat to my bedroom and ditch the going out clothes in favor of my shorts and sweatshirt combination. I look around and sitting on the coffee table is my tablet. So she stopped by here…I shoot her a quick message, making sure she's okay. When she confirms, I stop worrying. Leonard arrives and I let him in.

"Redundant." He repeats as he takes in my appearance. I stick my tongue out at him before I go over and take a seat on the couch. "Have you heard from either of them?"

"Tro said that everything was alright." I say with a shrug. "I'm probably right about the whole friends with benefits thing."

"You know? It'd make sense. I haven't really seen the usual girls he's slept around with lately." He says as he takes a seat beside me. I use his chest as my pillow and bring up my anatomy notes. "Are you being suggestive?"

"About learning the different muscles in humans and other humanoid lifeforms?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. "Mateo said something stupid today about that. That he'd find a hunky guy to practice feeling around on." I laugh.

"I feel like that is a very particular kind of guy to find." He says and then I think about it and I turn and look at him.

"Leonard…are you saying that you're weirdly turned on by studying anatomy?" I ask and we laugh. "But seriously…?"

"No, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have fun with studying." He says and then he sets out tablets aside. "Do you mind?"

"I'll let you take the lead." I say and he gently pulls my sweatshirt over my head. For whatever reason, I feel a little self-conscious in my tank top despite the fact that as my doctor, he's seen me before.

"Alright, let's see." He says and then he kisses my forehead. "Here we have the frontalis. Then the zygomaticus." He kisses my cheek. He places a lingering kiss on my neck. "Sternocleidomastoid."

"How on Earth do you make those sound sexy?" I ask and I feel as he smirks against my skin.

"Trapezius." He says, placing a quick kiss to the area between my shoulder and neck. "Deltoid." Directly on my shoulder. "Bicep." Then he kisses his way down to my hand. "And this is just 'cause I wanna. I don't do this for everybody. There are some more to name in here, but we can cover that in a future session."

"That's a relief." I say and he makes his way back up my arm and I pull his lips to mine, he's smirking.

"Hey, we've got-" Kiss. "A lot of-" Kiss. "Other muscle groups to cover." He laughs as he kisses me back. "Here I am just tryin' to help you remember."

"I know exactly what you're tryin' to do." I say and then I laugh. "Well, in theory I know. But I could just be misreading the situation."

"There are other muscle groups that we can cover in a little while, if that's what you want to do." He says and his eyes are just a little darker. Steamy make out sessions have happened, but for whatever reason in this moment I feel nervous. "Or not." It's more concerned than frustrated which I am now realizing was a concern for me.

"No, it's not that I don't want to." I say as I put my arms around his neck. "I'm not really sure why I feel nervous."

"Would it make you feel better if I used my hands instead?" He asks and I laugh. "Hey, I'm serious. I mean, you're definitely gonna remember the sternocleidomastoid."

"Someone is a little cocky." I say and he smirks again. He leans in and kisses me and then he lays on his side next to me.

"Then here, we've got the pectorals." He traces a line down my chest. "Then the rectus abdominus." He runs his hand along my side. "External oblique." I shiver. His hand rests on my hip. "Gluteus Medius." He gestures around the front of my leg. "We typically just call these the quadriceps, but that does break down into smaller groups." After a moment he gently turns me on my side by the back of my leg. "Your hamstrings. You good?"

"Yeah." I say and he smiles at me and kisses my forehead. "I hope no one else receives this kind of study session with you."

"It's my first time studyin' it this way." He says and then his hand grazes over my ass. "Gluteus maximus." He continues up my back. "Latissimus dorsi." Between my shoulder blades. "The greater part of the trapezius is in this area." Then he moves his hand up to gently run his fingers through my hair. "On the back of your head you've got the occipitalis. On the back of your arm, you've also got the triceps, but that doesn't feel all that important to me right now."

"Yeah?" I ask and then he kisses me slowly. "So what does seem important right now?" He cups my face.

"Makin' sure that you feel safe and loved." He says and that brings tears to my eyes. He just wipes them away. "That's typically what I've wanted ya to feel. I hadn't suggested you comin' home with me, but when Momma said it, well that felt right. Then for the most part I think you had a good time and it was nice seein' you there. I think it kinda solidified the feelings I have for ya."

"For the most part I did feel pretty safe there." I say and he smiles. "Your family is kind of what I always imagined a normal family to be like." I shake my head then. "But let's get back to this moment. I think we should review." I shift us so that I'm straddling his waist. He has his hands on my hips. "So, the frontalis." I kiss his forehead. "Zygomaticus?" I ask as I kiss his cheek. He nods. "Then we have the…" I trail off as I give him a run for his money on a lingering kiss on his neck. "Sternocleidomastoid."

"Told ya you'd remember it." He says in a huskier voice. He clears his throat. "Good lord what you are doin' to me."

"Should we postpone our study date?" I ask innocently and he sits up, startling me a little bit, but I adapt and return his kiss with the same amount of energy.

* * *

I weave my way through the sea of cadets exiting the lecture hall. I find Leonard standing with a couple of other doctors talking. I walk up and press the paper copy of my anatomy exam into his chest before I walk away, back into the flood confidently. I glance over my shoulder and see the smirk on his face. I turn back and continue down the hallway. That's when Dr. Forbey intercepts me. He stands too close and I don't like how little room there is between my back and the wall.

"Excuse me, Forbey." I say in a stern tone. He smiles at me in what I'm assuming he thinks is an enticing way. "Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem, I was just going to see if you needed a partner to study with." He says and again, I'm assuming he thinks he's appealing to me.

"Fortunately, or unfortunately, we don't share any classes together. So, I'm going to pass in favor of someone whom I do share courses with." I present myself authoritatively.

"Surely you can make an exception." He says as he takes a step forward, being suggestive now. A step back and I'm to the wall. He places his hand on my arm.

"I said the answer was no." I say as I take his arm and twist it around his back. He's shocked by this maneuver and so he falls to his knees. I push him away from me and pick up my bag that had fallen from my shoulder. "And if you make another advance on me like that again, I'll rip off your arm and shove it up your ass." I elect to take the other way. Leonard is walking towards me.

"You're just the…What's wrong?" He asks as he falls into step with me. We reach the stairwell. "Darlin'." He makes me stop.

"Forbey made a pass at me and I threatened to rip off his arm and shove it up his ass." I say and he doesn't look angry necessarily, but I can feel it. "I wouldn't have twisted his arm if he hadn't put his hand on me." I shake my head. "I just need to go and get something to eat. Then scrub my arm off."

"I think we should report him." He says and I weigh my options. I've been lenient with men before and I've seen where that has gotten me.

"Let's keep an eye on the situation. I need to gather more proof of his misconduct." I look into his eyes and he studies me for a moment before he nods.

"I'm not happy about it, but you're right." He says and then he reaches into his bag and pulls out my test. "This was confusing and then incredibly hot, Darlin'." I laugh.

"Yeah, well." I shrug. "No, I'm not going to play it cool, I was hoping that it would be." He shakes his head. "I hope I made you look really cool in front of your doctor friends."

"Jury's out." He says and then he tucks the test away again. "Now I had a favor to ask you. I may or may not need a pointer or two in my hand-to-hand. Do you have some time right now?"

"Well seeing as though we finished our final classes for the day and you don't have a shift at the clinic, I'm sure I can shuffle around my studying time. First, I do need to eat something. I had to skip lunch." I say and he gives me a look. "It wasn't a choice I made lightly. You know how much I love food." We're walking down the stairs again.

"Alright, food and then tutoring." He says and then he gets that smirk on his face again. I don't say anything. "So, Commander Hobbs isn't an easy grader, how'd ya manage to get a hundred percent out of her?"

"Commander Hobbs adores me." I say with a smile. "She admires my hard work and determination to both of my majors. If she has any pull, I'm fairly certain she's going to have me in most of the classes she teaches to intimidate the other cadets."

"And if you can help inspire other cadets, I'll bet you more than love it." He says and I shrug. "I'm seein' a whole new side of you, Ollie." That has me smirking as he opens the door for me. I raise my eyebrows at him enticingly before I keep walking. We reach the mess hall and grab our meals before we sit down at a table off to the side.

"Don't look now, but I spy Dr. Slimey licking his wounds." I say and Leonard subtly gets a look. I can tell that it cheers him up. "See? I can handle creeps like him." I smile then. "Thanks for not being a jerk and running off to kick his ass or whatever."

"If I were an insecure man I may have, but I know I've got nothin' to worry about with you." He says and then he shrugs. "But if he ever does somethin' like that and I'm around? I won't stand by and let it happen."

"I wouldn't expect you to and I'm positive you'll make good judgement calls. But since you're coming to me for help with combat, why don't you leave the jerk punchin' to me?" I say cheekily and he gives me a look.

"You think you're so cute." He says and I shrug. "I do fine, I just know that I can and need to do better."

"I admire that about you." I say as I rest my chin in my hand. "You might gripe about it sometimes and you said that Star Fleet was the only place you had left to go, but you're always trying to better yourself. You set an amazing example for Joanna."

"I thought it was my job to make you blush with compliments." He says and I laugh. "But thank you for sayin' that." He looks down at the table. "I wasn't always the best example for her, but I'm doin' my best now."

"And that's what she'll remember." I put my hand over his. "I don't know if you know this, but she told me that she wanted to be a doctor like you when she grows up." He looks surprised. "I don't know what you did or what you think you did, but that little girl looks at you like you're the one who put the stars in the sky." He turns his hand over and I gently brush my fingertips across his palm. "Now eat up, I'm anxious to see how I can help you." I go back to my own meal and he looks at me incredulously for a moment before he shakes his head and begins eating as well. When we finish, we drop off our trays before we head to the gym. I wink at him as I head into the women's locker room. I dress in athletic leggings and a wide strapped tank top. I braid my hair into a headband to keep it out of my face before I head out to the mats meant for sparring. I claim one for us before I take off my shoes, sit down and begin stretching. To finish up I point my toes forward before I lean all the way forward and hug my legs. It feels amazing on my back. I hear a whistle and look up to see Leonard walking towards me.

"I'll bet we could fit you into a carry-on bag." He says and I laugh. He sits down and begins stretching as well.

"When I went to stay with Captain Pike's friend, I was still an alcoholic. I hadn't let go of that constant anxiety and so I thought I needed to drink to make that feeling go away. So he taught me some yoga poses and now I do it every day. The added benefit is that it keeps me limber. Not to mention this feels amazing." I slowly sit up, taking a centering breath.

"Yoga, huh?" He says thoughtfully and then he shrugs. We finish stretching and stand. "I'll let you take the lead on this one."

"Okay." I say and then I hum. "You might not like this idea, but I promise it will only help you. But we should spar so that I can get an idea of what we're workin' with." I see the immediate apprehension. "Leonard, you will not hurt me."

"Darlin', what is it gonna look like a big guy like me comin' after you?" He asks and then I make a decision and I throw a punch. He blocks. "What are you doin'? I'm your boyfriend, damn it, not some boxer."

"If you won't come at me, I hope you'll at least defend yourself. And besides, we're not boxing." I say as I throw another punch, he dodges me. "Look at me. I promise you this is for learning purposes only. I know that you would never hurt me." He looks at me for a moment before he sighs and gets ready. "I know you've been in at least a few scuffles outside of learning basic hand-to-hand, so I don't need to tell you how real fights aren't fair."

"Yeah, what're you tryin' to say?" He asks as he throws a punch. I block him and then trip him up. He falls and I pin him.

"That you're easy to knock down." I say and then give him a kiss and stand up. He gets up quickly. "You could also stand to work on your speed."

"Noted." He says and then he comes at me again. I duck his punch and jab him in the ribs and then give him a relatively light kick in the chest to knock him back. He stumbles and I use that as an opportunity to knock him down again.

"I think the most important thing is to look for opportunities to surprise your opponent." I say and no sooner than I say that he rolls and tries to pin me. "That was a good move, but…" I bring my legs to my chest and push him off of me with my feet and get up into a stance. "Show me your stance, we need to fix that."

"Alright." He says as he stands and gets in his stance. I circle around him and he keeps his eyes on me.

"That I like." I say, pointing to his eyes. "But widen your stance a bit. That should do it." I say and then I come at him again. We're trading punches and blocks and I'm finding a lot less holes. "Nice." I smile but then he finds a hole in my defense, trips me up and then catches me in a dip. "Damn, that was smooth."

"Dr. Smooth." He says and then we crack up. While he's distracted by the laughter, I pull a move from judo and flip him over my shoulder. "Alright, I need a breather." I wink at him and start to head over to get us each a bottle of water, but he catches my hand and kisses it before he lets me go. I get to the machine and it dispenses the waters for me.

"If that wasn't the cutest thing I've ever seen." Uhura says as she walks past me and into the locker room. I laugh and head back over to Leonard. I sit down with him on the mat and hand him his water before I drink deeply from my own.

"So bear in mind I'm kind of a bad ass," I start with a wink, "but do you feel any better about your combat?"

"I do actually." He says and I smile. "Thanks for not goin' too easy on me. What other tips might you have for me, Darlin'?"

"Keep an eye on the hands more than the eyes. In Georgia, Marcus could have messed me up a lot worse if I hadn't noticed that he had a knife. Be aware of your surroundings, you don't want to get backed into a corner. I guess this probably is something you've covered in class, but I feel like it's worth mentioning again and again." I say and he scoots a little closer and takes my hand.

"I guess the real-life example solidifies the tip." He says and I offer a small smile. "But you sure did give my ass a solid whoopin', Darlin'. I'm beat."

"Maybe we should work on your stamina as well. Why else do you think I'm always jogging?" I ask and he shakes his head. "It'll be fun. Running is my second favorite thing to do." I bump his shoulder with mine.

"Yeah, alright. Maybe some time." He says and I smile. "I know that technically a 'runner's high' is a real thing with the endorphins and what not…"

"You might not get runner's high, but some day I think you'll thank me for making you run." I finish my water. "Now is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I think for now this'll do." He says and then he stands up. "Is there anything I can help you with today? Obviously, I'm a very good tutor since you did so well on your exam." Then he gets a better look at me. "Hold on a second, you didn't even break a sweat, did you?"

"Obviously." I say as I get up and start walking towards the women's locker room. "Hit the showers, McCoy."

* * *

"Juarez, what are you doing?" I ask my friend as he circles around me, observing me very closely.

"I'm looking for your charging port. You've got to be an android or something. Nobody is that smart." He says and I roll my eyes.

"You know, he's got a point." Uhura says as she takes a seat across from us. "I don't think I've ever heard of you actually sleeping either."

"That's because sleep is for the weak." I say gravely. "I sleep every once in a while to remind myself what it's like for you humans."

"Totally an android." Juarez says as he sits back down. "So I'm incredibly certain that Commander Spock hates me and I'm going to fail this test coming up."

"Commander Spock is Vulcan, hate is illogical." I say and Uhura laughs. "We're not going to let you fail, I promise." I spot Leonard across the library and I smile at him.

"Ooh, your hunky doctor. You can go give him a kiss, we don't mind waiting." Juarez says and I roll my eyes again.

"I don't need to kiss him every single time I see him." I say with a laugh. "Leonard is affectionate, but we're professionals."

"Yeah, but I'm sure professionalism and play go hand in hand sometimes." He says as he elbows me. I laugh and smack his arm gently.

"No. He takes my health very seriously, especially since I've bounced back and forth from being normal and underweight so much. Besides, we're going jogging after this." I say and then I point at his tablet. "Now notes. I thought you were worried about failing."

"It's so much more fun making you get all smiley and blushy talking about your boyfriend." He insists and Uhura laughs.

"As much fun as it is, Gray is right. This test is tomorrow, Juarez. We've only got a couple of hours to help whip you into shape." She says and I nod at her.

"Exactly. So let's get started." I say and then we do get to work. By the time we're finished studying, he has the material down. I didn't doubt that he would. I've noticed that once he does get focused on something, he's able to pick it up quickly. It's just that trick of getting him into that line of thought. I pack up my things.

"So we'll meet the half hour before class and go over last minute things?" Uhura confirms and I nod my agreement.

"Yes. Then after class, celebratory ice cream in the mess hall because we deserve it." I say and Juarez high fives me. "Alright guys, I will see you then." I head out of the library and begin walking towards the gym when I get a call, it's Lucille. I hold my communicator up to my ear as I answer. "Lucille, it's so great to hear from you."

"It's so good to hear that sweet voice of yours." She says and I smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting your studies or anything, I hadn't heard from you in a while and you were on my mind."

"I know, I've been playing a lot of catch up on my nursing program. I'm in some accelerated courses and they're taking up a lot of free time, but that's no excuse. How are you?" I ask, smoothing my hair behind my ear as I try to keep my composure. I know that she cares about me, so it shouldn't make me so emotional that I was on her mind.

"I'm doing well. Thomas and I going to be visiting San Francisco soon, I hope that the four of us can have dinner together." She says and I feel the grin on my face.

"Absolutely. I remember Leonard mentioning that you guys were coming. It's a shame that Joanna doesn't have any time off from school to come as well." I say and she makes a noise.

"And boy did we try." She says and I can just see the somewhat annoyed expression. "But I just wanted to make sure you were doin' alright and that my son was treatin' you well."

"You have nothing to worry about there." I say fondly. "Leonard treats me like a princess. What with those southern manners of his."

"I did my job then." She says and I laugh. "Alright, I won't keep ya any longer. Have a good rest of your day, Sweetheart."

"You too, Lucille." I say and then we hang up. I get into the women's locker room and change into my running clothes before I go over to our agreed upon meet up spot and begin stretching. I stand and stretch my arms above my head when someone takes my hand and spins me around.

"My, Miss Ollie, if you don't look more beautiful every day." Leonard says as he finishes the spin and brings my hand to his lips to kiss it.

"You're extra chivalrous today." I say with a smile. "Miss Ollie? And a very charming kiss of the hand? What's the occasion?"

"I'm just in a good mood, I guess." He says with a shrug. "And maybe you'll go easy on me."

"It's sweet that you think I'd go easy on you." I say with a sincere face. "Now get to stretching." He does as I instructed and that's when I see Dr. Forbey over on one of the machines. "Ah, okay. I get it now."

"Get what?" Leonard asks and I shake my head as I stretch my hamstrings. Once he's all stretched out, we head out of the gym and we set off at a light jog on my favorite path.

"So was it a good mood or an act of asserting dominance?" I'm more amused than anything. "Sweetheart, you know some men don't care if a girl already has a boyfriend, right? They think they can convince her to do nefarious things, but I'm not that sort of girl."

"Well you are more beautiful every day." He grumbles and I smile. "And it was worth that smile."

"Now that's more like it. Now pick up the pace, McCoy. Today I have planned a high-intensity interval training workout. You know what that means?" I ask with a grin and he looks at me seriously.

"Do I wanna know?" He asks and I laugh as I quicken my pace. "You have a slightly sadistic look in your eye."

"It's not sadism." I roll my eyes. "We're only going to be running for ten minutes today. Just keep up with me and I promise you will get through it. Would I steer you wrong?"

"That's not what worries me." He says and I shake my head as I glance at my watch. "So there is some sort of method."

"Yup, now we walk for thirty seconds." I say as I slow to a brisk walk, keeping an eye on the time. "Now run." I say as I break into a moderately paced run. "Keep it up for a minute. You're doing great. We're almost half-way done."

"That isn't as reassuring as you meant for it to sound." He says and I laugh and slow to another thirty second walk. "I assume we're going into the high-intensity part."

"You've still got a normal run and thirty second walk before we get to the hard running." I say and he makes a face. "Oh come on, you're in great shape."

"I have a feelin' a hard run for you and a hard run for me are two totally different things." He says and I can't help but laugh a little.

"I'm not going to push you that hard on our first run together. You act like I try to be a pain in your ass." I say and he gives me a look. "Only sometimes."

"Only sometimes, she says." He mutters and I laugh as I quicken the pace to a regular run. He keeps pace a little easier, so that makes me decide to push him a little harder than I originally intended. We hit the minute mark and I slow to the walk. "Five minutes left." It's more reassurance to himself. "One hell of a five minutes, but five minutes."

"That's right." I say with a nod. "You've got this!" I keep an eye on my watch. The thirty seconds ticks over and I take off into a hard run. He mostly keeps up with me, but I see the obvious relief when we hit the last thirty second walk. "One more hard run, then we walk back."

"Joy." He says, regulating his breathing. "And this is a six day sort of program you're startin' me on?"

"Yes, and it works perfectly with our busy schedules because they're all only ten-minute workouts." I say cheerfully. "And as you get more comfortable with it, you can change things out and adjust it as you need to. It even works for indoor activities, but I prefer running outside more than I do on the treadmill."

"It's good for ya, and not to mention those cute little freckles on the bridge of your nose." He says and I wrinkle my nose at him.

"I don't get nearly as freckle-y as my brother. Grandma Olivia always called them angel kisses." I say, smiling at that fond memory. "Our summers with her were always the best." I glance at the watch. "I gave you extra walking time, we'll just extend the running." I take off at a hard run again and I hear his laugh as he breaks into a run as well. When we finish the almost two-minute run, he's panting. "And now we walk." I give him some time to catch his breath before I offer a sheepish smile. "I may have pushed you just a tad harder that last time, but I promise it's good for you. My boyfriend is a doctor, you know."

"I think I know somethin' about that." He says dryly. I nod over my shoulder and we turn and start walking back towards the gym. "I have to say, though, that is a pretty decent work out. Good for a Monday. I was lookin' over the rest of the workouts and they're pretty reasonable."

"I put actual research into how I was training my body, I don't know why you're so surprised." I say and he shrugs and then he looks thoughtful. "What?"

"Your brother, you don't talk about him a whole lot." He says and I shrug. He was a big part of my life before he left, he used to be all I talked about.

"Yeah…it's kind of hard." I say and he takes my hand and kisses it. "He's your age. I have no clue where he is…but his name is Josh. He was named after our Grandpa Joshua, married to Grandma Olivia." I smile. "He never called me Niki. It was great, instead of being annoyed by me, we were inseparable…and he protected me from our father." I shake my head. "I just hope that wherever he is, he's happy and living his best life."

"Maybe one day you'll find each other." He says as he keeps hold of my hand. "I feel kinda bad for bein' so annoyed by Andrew all the time now."

"Andrew's your little brother." I say with a roll of my eyes. "He may be a shithead, but he does look up to you." He makes a face. "I don't get why boys are like that." I roll my eyes.

"So I'm just a boy now, huh?" He asks as he grabs my sides. I let out a little 'eep' and run away from him.

"When you're with Andrew you are!" I say and he shakes his head. I warily return to walking beside him. "You shouldn't let him get under your skin so much. He wouldn't bother you as bad if you didn't amuse him with your reactions."

"Now you're startin' to sound like Momma." He says and I laugh. "He just thinks he's so funny."

"Honey…I hate to do this to you…but he is pretty funny." I say and he shoots me a look. "I get it, you're brothers." I playfully roll my eyes. "Anyway, you may have blushed if you'd come to see me earlier when I was studying. Juarez kept calling you my hunky doctor." He shakes his head. "It's true, you are pretty hunky. I'll bet a lot of your patients had a crush on you when you had your practice."

"None that I noticed." He says and I roll my eyes. "Okay, there was one older lady. She pinched my behind more times than I care to admit." I crack up. "I'm glad that sexual harassment is so amusin' to you."

"I'm just trying to imagine." I say and he shakes his head yet again. "You know I take sexual harassment very seriously. Do you want me to go to Georgia to beat her up?"

"I think it's fine." He says dryly. "You're in a real good mood today." He notes and I shrug.

"I don't know…I just feel good. Like…I do have things to worry about, but I'm trying to not focus on that." I say and he squeezes my hand. "One might say I'm looking on the bright side of life…maybe you should try it some time."

"Darlin', didn't you know I'm a ball of sunshine?" He asks and I laugh. "I like to think I'm better about that around you."

"Because I catastrophize enough for the two of us when it comes to my ghosts." I shoot finger guns at him and he rolls his eyes. "New leaf. We're not allowed to catastrophize."

"You're just sayin' that because you know I've been workin' on not bein' so afraid of flyin'." He gives me a side eye. I pretend to be offended, but then I get serious.

"Leonard, you know that I'm here for you. We walk a two-way street." I say and he smiles a little.

"I know, Darlin', and I appreciate that." He holds the door open for me as we arrive back at the gym.

* * *

I vault over the table as I see the fight about to break out and I step in between the two cadets.

"That's enough you two." I say loud enough to get their attention and the bigger muscled one grabs me by the arm to drag me out of the way. I take his hand and twist his arm behind his back while I push his knee in, causing him to go down. I control his descent, so he's only subdued. "I said that's enough. If the two want to make it through this academy, you cannot behave like cavemen. Do I make myself clear?"

"And who do you think you ar-" The brawny one tries to snipe at me from his subdued position and so I twist just a little harder.

"Hi, I'm Olivia. I'll be the one cleaning up after individuals such as yourself who don't know how to shut their mouths in tense situations." I say and then I look to the other guy. "Are you cool?"

"I'm cool." He says and then he looks at the other guys. "It's not even worth it, man." He walks away.

"And are you cool? Or should I turn you over to the security officers? Let them deal with you?" I ask and he looks like he's thinking about it.

"I'm cool." He says and I let him go before I offer my hand and help him up. "So you're a mediator, huh? I had my doubts about the program, but it might work."

"I should hope so." I say and then I turn and walk back over to where Uhura and Juarez are watching me from our table. Juarez's jaw is basically on the table. "I recognized the other guy and he's a genius engineer. I don't want him to get kicked out and they aren't going to tolerate petty fights. Excuse me for not wanting to get blown up in space." I sit back down to my lunch.

"Hell yeah." Uhura says as she high fives me. "You really aren't afraid to get right in there, are you?"

"She's a little spit fire." Juarez finally says. "If I weren't gay, I would totally be into you."

"Thanks, Juarez." I say with a laugh as I take a drink of my juice. "What were we talking about before?"

"Going out." He says as he gives me a little push. "You seem like you would be so much fun in a club."

"Eh, that's not my scene." I say, waving it away. "I used to have a problem, so I stay away from alcohol."

"So that's part of why you're a work out junkie. I get it." He says with a nod. "So when you do go out, what do you do?"

"Actually, my friend Jim found this really great jazz club. It's great for dancing. The four of us go there sometimes. We've been so busy since this semester started up that we haven't had a chance to go." I smile.

"Oh, I can see it now. You and your cowboy, dancing cheek to cheek." He says and I laugh.

"You're more obsessed with the fact that I have a boyfriend than I am." I say and he waves it away.

"I have to live vicariously through you. All of the guys I'm interested in are the tough guy gays who aren't into admitting they're gay yet." He says with a roll of his eyes.

"You poor thing." Uhura says and he laughs. "Why don't you try going out of your usual interest then?"

"You know, this is going to sound really sarcastic, but I hadn't thought of that." He says genuinely. He looks around. "Ooh, he's cute." I turn to see who he's talking about and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach. "Olivia?"

"I've…got to go and talk to that guy." I say and Uhura puts her hand on mine. She looks incredibly concerned. "Uh…this might be a little too personal for our arrangement."

"Okay, well you look like you just saw a ghost. So I'm a little concerned for you." She says and Juarez has the same look.

"That's…my brother I haven't seen in thirteen years." I say and then I look over again. "Yeah, there is no way that isn't him. I…I need to go and talk to Leonard."

"Juarez take care of our trays. I'm going to make sure she gets there alright." Uhura says as she gets up and comes around to me.

"Do what you've gotta do, I've got this handled." He says and then she's guiding me. I feel a little better once the fresh air hits my face.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just…there is a lot of baggage that is unloading itself in my chest as we speak and Leonard is the only other person I've ever talked about Josh to." I say and she puts her arm around my shoulders.

"You don't need to apologize." She says, completely understanding. "Our arrangement sounded good, didn't it? But I guess it wasn't realistic."

"Completely focusing on our friendship moving forward, not talking about the past except for what's absolutely necessary?" I ask with a laugh. "It does sound great. Especially with Jim Kirk as an overprotective brother figure. I don't like when people are concerned about me."

"I get that." She agrees with a nod. "You just looked like you were going to pass out, so you get why I was concerned."

"Kinda felt like it too." I say and we laugh. We arrive at the clinic where Leonard is currently on duty with Dr. Lee. He stands up as we enter.

"Alright, here is Dr. Boyfriend, I'm going to catch up with Juarez." She says, giving my arm a squeeze before she turns and goes.

"Can we talk privately for a moment?" I ask and he nods slowly before he guides me to an examination room. "Uh.."

"Darlin', what's goin' on? You're as white as a sheet." He says as he feels my forehead. I take his hand.

"This is anxiety. I'm not really dying." I say with a laugh and he squeezes my hands. "Uh…I was just having lunch with Uhura and Juarez, we got onto the topic of trying to find a new type of guy for Juarez to like and…well…Josh is a cadet here." He raises his eyebrows.

"Well that is certainly unexpected." He says and then he looks at me. "Well…what are you gonna do?"

"I…don't know. I kind of have mixed feelings? But they're victim feelings and that's not me." I shake my head. "I've missed him like crazy, but we're definitely completely different people now. Well I know I am for sure."

"You know you don't have to talk to him if you don't want to. So just take some time to let settle with ya and then you can figure out what you wanna do. Okay?" He brings my hands to his lips and kisses them. "I can get ya excused from your next class if you need me to."

"I hate to miss it, but I think I do need to get out of this mindset." I close my eyes for a moment before I look at him again. "Can I use this room?"

"It's yours." He says and then he gets on his pad and gets me excused from the class for the day. "And this isn't preferential treatment. You're our second case of anxiety today."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" I ask dubiously and he shrugs. I laugh. "Thank you, Dr. McCoy."

"Anytime, Miss Olivia. Let me know if you need anything." He says and then he leaves the room. I kick off my shoes and sit up on the examination table cross-legged.

"Computer. Dim lights." I say and it does so. I close my eyes and focus on taking deep, measured breaths. This is a lot to unpack…but I need to feel it in order to let it go, otherwise it will just keep building up. So I'll lay it out like this…I feel abandonment. He left me there when he knew what would happen. I can't blame him for that though. He did what I did when I came here. He got out of there for his own safety…there was no way he could have taken me with him. I can see how he wouldn't have been able to contact me while I still lived at home…but when I moved out, I don't think Marcus would have kept him from me. No, in spite of how psychotic he is, family is still incredibly important to him. He knew how much Josh meant to me. There's also the matter of maybe Josh doesn't want to be in contact with me. Maybe I would remind him too much of what he left. There is also the fact that I'm not the ten-year-old little sister he potentially remembers. That doesn't change how much I meant to him…I can't not say something. "Computer, lights up." I hop down off the table and slide back into my boots. It's only been about fifteen minutes. I head out to where Dr. Lee and Leonard are sitting. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"You're sure?" He asks and I nod. "Alright, I'm here if you need me." He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. "Good luck, Darlin'."

"Thanks." I say and then I head out and jog back across campus to the mess hall. I look over and spot him still sitting there. He's alone now, reading. I take a couple of deep breaths before I go over and sit across from him. "Hey…you probably don't recog-"

"Olivia?" Josh looks at me with the greatest amount of disbelief, before a smile spreads across his face. "Let's go talk some place more quiet."

"Okay." I say with a nod. We get up and head outside where we find a bench to sit and talk. "So…hey, wow, it's been thirteen years. You're thirty-one."

"And you're twenty-three. I think one of us has the better end of this deal." He says and I laugh. "Is it alright if I give you a hug?"

"Well that's a dumb question." I say and he pulls me into one of his bear hugs and that brings the water works. "I didn't think you wanted to remember me."

"I tried to get in contact, but they wouldn't let me." He says and I feel a tear drop on my neck. "Even that ape, Marcus. I can't believe they let you come here."

"Yeah…no…they didn't. Dad said if I left Illinois I didn't have a home anymore…so I sent him this." I say as I pull up the video. He laughs and pulls me into another hug. "Marcus is a problem though."

"I'm so sorry, Ol." He says and I see years of self-resentment. "It took a long time for me to actually get up on my feet…and even longer to find myself. It wasn't until last academic year where I actually figured it out. I'm a great engineer, who would've guessed?"

"You were always great at building stuff." I say as I wipe my eyes. "Uh, it was a month before the start of last semester. Something big had happened and I was hiding out at a bar when Captain Pike came and convinced me that I could actually leave…that I had to leave." I smile to myself. "And I guess I'm really glad I did, otherwise we probably would have never seen each other again."

"Probably." He agrees and then he takes my hands. "Olivia…I can't put into words what it felt like to leave you behind. They're all bad feelings and I really hope that we can reconnect and get to know each other again. I'm pretty much the same loser with bad jokes that I was when I left. I'm just more of a successful adult."

"I turned into a pain in the ass." I say and then I laugh. "I've got some really great friends, I'll have to introduce you to them. I don't know if you know of Admiral Sullivan, but his daughter, Troian, is my room mate and we also kind of adopted each other as sisters? We have a unique relationship. Then there's Jim. I'm pretty sure he's working his way on sleeping across campus, but he's been really good to me. Then there's…Leonard, he's pretty great too. He also doubles as my attending physician, which he likes reminding me of when I lean too heavy into my PT." Is it weird to mention that he's my boyfriend? I guess it's not so important right now. "I'm in the mediator program and I'm also doing nursing. I've made a couple of other friends through that, Uhura and Juarez."

"Oh you haven't changed a bit." He says with that broad smile. "This is like when you came home from the first day of third grade all over again. You gave me all of the details."

"And you, my seventeen-year-old brother sat and listened to all of my stories." I say and he nods. "I…kind of freaked out when I saw you earlier. After that almost kerfuffle I broke up. Dennison can be such a hot head." I roll my eyes.

"But he's talented." He agrees, rolling his eyes as well. "Wait…you broke them up." I shrug.

"Mediator. I mentioned the PT? I'm pretty good with hand-to-hand and self-defense. I mostly talked them out of it after I twisted…Fitzpatrick's arm." I say and then I nod. I make it my mission to remember as many cadets as I can as practice for learning all of the names of the people on my crew whenever I'm finished with my studies here.

"But I'm sorry that you freaked out. Do you feel better now?" He asks and I nod. "I'm glad. I'm going to have to get in on this sick PT you were telling me about. My hand-to-hand could use some work."

"You won't be the first person I've tutored." I smile. "That month before starting here, I had an insane instructor…then I've had some great instructors here. And I've always been-"

"A quick study. Man…it's so cool to see you all grown up." He says proudly. "Eight years is a lot when you're that age."

"You never made it feel that way." I say with a smile. "I feel so silly for being freaked out now. Leonard was so worried when Uhura took me over to the clinic. I guess I looked like I was going to pass out." We laugh. "He actually sprung me from my class that's going on right now. Said I was the second case of anxiety today to try and make me feel better."

"A sweet talker that one is, isn't he?" He asks with a roll of his eyes. "He's not Dr. Sensitive, is he?"

"He's a sweetheart in his own way." I say and he gives me a knowing look. "And what's that look?"

"You've got the hots for Dr. Sweetheart, don't you?" He asks and I laugh. It really is like having my best friend back.

"We're actually dating. It just seemed kind of weird to bring up in the moment?" I say and he looks like he understands. "But he is really good to me."

"I'm glad, I can't imagine that meat head, Marcus was any good at all." He says and I look away. "Ol…"

"We don't need to talk about it." I say firmly. "What matters now is that we're in each other's new lives now."

"Ollie…how bad was it?" He asks, catching my eyes. I let my gaze flit around a bit to try and lose him, but he holds steady.

"He's come after me twice since I got here. He recently got out of jail for the second time. It was…incredibly violent. I would probably be dead if I had stayed." I say and he nods. "But I'm not in it alone anymore and I can defend myself."

"So I take it Leonard knows about everything…since he's your doctor and all." He says and then he gets a look. "You're so bad. That has to be against regulation."

"Doctors look after their own loved ones all the time. He and I are both professionals." I say and then I shake my head. "You sound exactly like Juarez."

"Juarez? I've not heard of them." He says and I smile. "But this person sounds incredibly funny."

"He is pretty great. He's doing linguistics and nursing also, so we frequently run like crazy people to class together." I say with a shrug. "I'm not as close with he and Uhura, but I feel like it's only a matter of time. Mateo Juarez is entirely too invested in my social life."

"I definitely need to meet all of these people." He says and then he shakes his head. "Or is that weird? It just kind of feels natural?"

"No, it definitely does." I smile. "I'm so glad that it does." I feel quite a bit safer…and it's probably because he did always protect me before he left. "Hey Josh? Don't beat yourself up for leaving, okay? I get it."

"I knew you would one day." He says and then he hugs me again. "But it still really sucks and every once in a while it likes to creep up and sucker punch me."

"Ollie?" Jim calls from a distance and I look over and see he and Tro. They're assessing the situation…I never told them I had a brother and so it probably looks like I'm hugging just some guy.

"So…funny story, you guys." I say as I stand up. Josh stands up with me. "So this is my brother Josh, he uh, left home when I was ten and I hadn't seen him since then?"

"Oh, that's great." Jim says, a big smile spreading across his face. "Jim Kirk. Ollie's like the best sister in the world." He shakes his hand.

"She was always pretty great and it seems like not much has changed." Josh agrees with a nod. "And you must be Troian? Thanks for looking after her."

"Yeah." Tro says carefully as she shakes his hand. She looks at me and I nod, smiling warmly. "She just never mentioned that she had a brother, so I'm kind of caught off guard."

"I get it." He says with a nod. "I'm guessing they know about the assholes we come from. They pretty much kept her under wraps until now, obviously." He gestures to me. "Are her jokes still really bad?"

"Ollie jokes?" Tro asks and then they laugh. "Okay, I think you might be alright then." She still doesn't trust him, but that doesn't surprise me. She's still wary about Leonard.

"So what are you guys majoring in?" He asks, naturally the next question when meeting another cadet.

"We're both in Command and Control." Jim says and then he gets that dreamer look and I smile. "We're still fighting over who will be top or bottom, we're both more than capable." Tro whacks him on the back of the head and I laugh.

"Silly boy, Troian is very obviously a top." I say and Josh laughs. Tro just shrugs before she folds her arms across her chest.

"Well, we'll let you two get back to catching up. I'll get him out of here before he says something that'll make me shove his arm down his throat." She gives Jim a look.

"She's not kidding." Jim says and then he shakes Josh's hand again. "She looks really happy, so I'm glad that you're here."

"You and me both. It was great meeting you guys. Hopefully we'll see more of each other." He says with a smile and Tro nods before the two walk away. "So Troian seems scary."

"We've all got baggage. She's really not that scary if you're not on her bad side. She's just cautious when it comes to me." I say and he nods.

"Because of Marcus." He says and I point at him. "I get that." He glances at his watch then. "I really don't want to, but I've got to get to a study group. I'll message you later and we'll figure out a time to grab lunch or dinner or something."

"Yes." I say and then we hug again. "I really missed you, Josh." He squeezes me especially tight.

"I missed you too, kid. See you later." He says and then he heads off. I glance at my own watch. I've still got forty-five minutes until my next class. I go back over to the bench and sit down with my tablet. I send Leonard a message, letting him know that everything is okay, before I settle in to study before I need to go.


	7. Dr Romantic

_Hello all! I know I said that progress might be slow, but inspiration has just been hitting me left and right! So hopefully I can keep up this momentum AND continue to do well on my school work! Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

"Darlin', relax. Don't you think you're bein' just a little silly?" Leonard asks as he takes my hands away from his shirt collar. "Just two weeks ago you nearly passed out when you saw him."

"The man I love is meeting one of the only family members who ever loved and accepted me for who I was." I look him in the eye. "It's a big deal."

"Well, when you put it like that." He says as he fixes his own collar. "I just don't like it when you get all worked up."

"Everything has just been so great, I guess I'm kind of just worried that you guys won't like each other." I say and he takes my hands and kisses them.

"Even if we didn't, I can assure you that I wouldn't make it a problem." He says and then he kisses them again. "Relax. I'm sure that he and I both want the same thing for you. For you to be happy and follow your dreams." The lift reaches the bottom of our residence hall where Jim and Tro meet us. The five of us are going out for dinner to one of our favorite restaurants not too far off of campus. When we step outside, Josh is jogging up. "Leonard McCoy, it's nice to finally meet you." He steps up to meet him with a handshake.

"Josh." My brother says as he shakes his hand. "I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to put a name to a face."

"Likewise." Leonard says with a nod. I don't know what I was expecting this exact moment to be. "Well shall we?"

"Yup, let's get going." Tro says, picking up on my anxiety and taking the lead. I mouth 'totally a top' to Josh who tries to hide his laugh with a cough. "So I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for this long weekend."

"Yeah, maybe we can convince Ollie to actually take a day to relax." Jim says and I laugh haughtily.

"Silly Jim, a day off from classes means that I take another whole day to lay around in my pajamas and study. You know these to be my habits, I don't know why you try." I say and he throws an arm around my shoulders.

"I know what your habits are and as your friend, it's my duty to help you live a little. I didn't take a month off to find the dance club for you for no good reason." He says and I pat his hand.

"You do a fine job, Jimmy." I say to placate him, but I know this isn't the end of it. Jim Kirk is nothing if not persistent. "You and Juarez are determined to take me outside of my comfort zone, aren't you?"

"Outside of your comfort zone is where your life begins, Olivia!" He says dramatically and I laugh.

"I have a life. If you hadn't noticed, I have two whole other friends. That's a lot for me." I say and then I look to Josh. "I never liked talking to the other kids, did I?"

"Not really, well no, there was that one girl. What was her name?" He asks, thinking hard. "Susannah something or other?"

"Susie Taylor." I say with a smile. "She and I were pretty good friends for the most part until she fell into the small-town trap of barefoot and pregnant. A snare they set so carefully."

"That we avoided." Josh says as he high fives me. "We're lucky that we were spiteful." I hum my agreement. We reach the restaurant and are seated pretty quickly. Our orders go in and breadsticks come out. "So Leonard, I'd love to get to know you a little better. How did you and Ollie meet?"

"We ended up sittin' next to each other on the shuttle over here from Iowa and then the four of us just kinda stuck together." He says and then he gives me one of his famous looks. "Doesn't help that we're neighbors."

"Oh you love it." I say as I bump his shoulder with mine. "Those two are late for everything and so one thing led to another, I spent Christmas in Georgia and boom here we are."

"That fateful Georgian New Years Eve, Bones you sly dog." Jim says with a shake of his head. "I'm kidding, Bones is nothing but a gentleman with Ollie."

"Bones? Where's that nickname come from?" Josh asks with a raise of his eyebrow. Leonard rolls his eyes at Jim.

"Somethin' I said once and it apparently stuck with him." He says and Josh nods. "My ex-wife took everythin' in the divorce, all I had left was my bones."

"Is that not iconic enough to warrant a nickname? He's clever. I like it." Jim says and Josh looks apprehensive. "And isn't it sweet, all he had left as opposed to has left? He's an old softie now."

"I think you're more obsessed with our relationship than is healthy, Jim." I say dubiously. "You and Juarez." I roll my eyes.

"I like Juarez." Tro says with a slight laugh. "He's kind of like a whirlwind and you get swept up in it easily. Specifically you, Ollie. Not in the general sense."

"Just because he spins me almost literally any time he sees me does not mean that he is actually a whirlwind." I roll my eyes again. She laughs.

"I haven't decided if he's a good or a bad influence yet." She says and I chuckle as I take a drink of water.

"Jury's out. He is supposedly trying to corrupt me. I only say supposedly because said corruption is me 'having fun'." I use air quotes. "Which the other day was trying to get me to pose with the skeleton in the anatomy lab during demonstration."

"But I know for a fact there was tomfoolery after the demonstration at least." Leonard says amused. "He sent me those pictures. It was cute."

"That toad." I laugh. "I'll admit, he brings out too much caffeine Ollie when there's been normal amounts of caffeine."

"If you're anything like me, that's enough to kill a horse." Josh says and I shrug. "We should really stop that, can't be good for our hearts."

"Eh, I date a doctor. It's fine." I say, waving off the concern. I'm starting to relax more. "Juarez thinks I'm an android anyway, so we could just replace the parts of me that stop working with robotic parts."

"It's not as easy as you're assuming it is quite yet, but it is possible." Leonard allows after weighing it for a moment. "In the meantime, why don't you try to at least have some sense of self-preservation."

"That's what all the PT is for." I say as I pat his cheek. "You know for a fact I'm probably one of your healthiest patients."

"Top five." He agrees. "But you're number four and slippin', you better watch it, Darlin'. I swear, any other time she eats enough for three men, but when she's stressed she doesn't eat anything. So for the past several months it's been up and down on the scale."

"Ah yes, I can't yell at her because I'm the same way." Josh says as he rubs the back of his neck. "I'm probably where you get that from. High school, man. It was not great being the only gay guy in one of those towns."

"Honestly. Humans can be the worst." I shake my head. "That's why I like studying other languages and cultures better. Typically, way more tolerant than humans." He waves it away.

"You guys are like the perfect example of nature versus nurture." Jim says as he looks between us.

"Well, Jimmy, Josh was very nurturing to me. He was eight when I was born and instantly enamored with his darling little sister." I say with a toss of my hair.

"You were the best. The cutest little chunky cheeks." He says, teasing me now. "And you always were adorable with your freckles. Low key, that's how I knew for sure it was you."

"Oh shut up." I say with a roll of my eyes. "It's literally just a small part of my face." He laughs and then he looks to Leonard again.

"So Christmas in Georgia, I take it that means you're from there." He says and I don't know how I feel about his tone.

"Indeed I am. We stayed with my parents where she had the pleasure of meetin' my parents and then the displeasure of my younger brother, Andrew." He says and I nudge him with my shoulder again.

"Andrew is harmless. But Thomas and Lucille are great. They're coming to visit in a few weeks and I'm sure they would love to meet you." I say and he smiles and it's genuine, but there's something there that makes me not so sure he likes Leonard. Which I know he can be not the greatest people person, but I didn't think that he'd said anything bad since we got here.

"Darlin'?" Leonard touches my elbow and I raise my eyebrows in question as I look at him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just spacing out, I guess." I say with a smile as I look between them. "Excuse me for a moment." Leonard moves his arm from the back of my chair and I get up. Tro smiles in excuse for herself.

"You know us ladies, we need to powder our noses." She says and that makes me laugh a little bit. We head to the women's restroom. "What's wrong?"

"Josh doesn't like Leonard. And I think it might be because he was married before." I say and she nods. "I mean…it doesn't matter to me, but I was just kind of hoping that everything would blend together smoothly."

"I was wishing that for you too, Honey, but no matter what, you know that Jim and I have got your back. I'm actually pretty proud of McCoy, he's being incredibly civil." She says and I smile. "Don't worry about a thing. If anything, Josh might just be concerned about how messy the whole blended thing can be sometimes. But you can diffuse literally any situation and so even if his ex-wife did have a problem with you, I'm confident that it would be a non-problem before anything bad could happen."

"You're right." I say as I lean against the sink and take in my reflection. "Am I trying too hard?"

"Not at all." She reassures me. "And even if those two aren't friends, I'm sure they both want the same things for you."

"That's what Leonard said on the lift." I say with a small smile. "I'm overthinking things." I close my eyes and take a centering breath. "Alright." I head towards the door and she smacks my ass. I shake my head but keep walking. I smile brightly as we return to the table. Leonard stands and pulls out my chair for me again. "Thank you." I smooth my dress as I take my seat. "So what did we miss?"

"An updated picture of Joanna." Jim says with a hand over his heart. "Spring pictures. My goodness, those curls."

"Her curls are the best. Let me see." I say and Leonard shows me the picture. "Oh my gosh. I think I miss her the most."

"Yeah and I think she misses you more than she misses me." He says and I smile. "No, but she's eight. Her favorite color is purple and the second grade is too easy."

"She's absolutely correct." I say as I sip my water. "Now that private school your mom was telling me about? That sounds like something else."

"I know but doesn't private school just sound sort of... pretentious?" He asks and I weigh it in my mind for a moment.

"Leonard, if your eight-year-old is telling you that she's not being challenged, I think you guys should really consider it strongly. Imagine where I could be if I had that sort of opportunity at that age." I say and Josh sits up a little straighter.

"It might not be my place to say, but I agree with Ollie." He says and I smile. "And you said she wants to be a doctor too?"

"I'll maul it over a bit more." Leonard agrees and I smile. "I just don't want some snot nosed little brat makin' my girl feel like she's not any better than they are."

"And if they do, I'll personally fly to Georgia and kick their butts." I say and he laughs. "But if she's anything like you, and she is, she'll be just fine."

"Boy is she." He says as he takes a drink of his tea. I chuckle. "The real McCoy, as you said."

"Oh, Ollie, come on." Josh says as he makes a face. "Such low hanging fruit? Surely you can do better than that." I shoot finger guns at him.

"You should've seen the look on her face when she was able to lay that one down. I just know she'd been sittin' on it since she found out I had a daughter." He says and I laugh.

"Maybe not that long, but I did think of it on the shuttle to Georgia." I say and he shakes his head. "And if everyone avoids the low hanging fruit, that should make it even more funny because everyone else is up in the high branches picking all of the other jokes."

"I think that's just lazy joking, Ollie." Jim says and I shoot him a look. He holds up his hands in surrender.

"Here you go, Darlin'." Leonard says as he drapes his jacket around my shoulders. I smile at him before I make eye contact with Tro. She drags those two ahead and I nod to Josh and we start walking, slower and behind them.

"You don't like him." I say gently. "And that's okay, but I just want you to know that doesn't mean I'm going to stop seeing him."

"It's not that I don't like him." He says and I wait for him to explain. "I'm just nervous for you because I know guys my age and he's divorced and…"

"And what, Josh?" I ask gently. "Look, before we even had these feelings for each other, he still encouraged me when I did that thing where I let other people tell me what I was and wasn't capable of. He doesn't just think I'm a hot accessory to have on his arm, he legitimately cares about me and I care about him too. So while I appreciate your concern, it's not necessary and it isn't going to change my mind." He looks thoughtful.

"Alright…then I'll push aside my concern as your brother and I'll follow my gut and like him as a person." He says and I smile.

"Now that is the reaction I wanted from tonight." I say and then I slide my arms into the sleeves of his jacket. "His jacket, Joshua. And I didn't even say I was cold. He does this often."

"Oh, he's not just showing off because he's meeting your brother?" He asks and I laugh. "Come on, they probably know we're talking about them. Troian isn't exactly subtle, is she?"

"Nah, but we operate that way. It's fine." I say and we quicken our pace. I jog up and jump so I can put my hands over Leonard's eyes. "Guess who." I have to keep jumping.

"Quit jumpin' around like that, with your luck, you'll fall and break somethin' else." He says as he turns and catches my hands. He makes eye contact with Josh. I look between them and it seems civil enough. "Do I pass?" Oh boy, the sass.

"For now." He says and I roll my eyes. "What? He asked, I'm just being honest. Besides, you'll probably be happy to know where she told me to stuff my reservations."

"Probably the same place she told Forbey she'd shove his creepy hands." Jim says and Josh makes a face.

"That guy makes a pass at me at least once a month." Josh says and I gape at him. "But he's made passes at you too?"

"Yes. And he was automatically assigned as my attending physician, which thankfully Leonard all but walked up to me with the documents to get me switched promptly." I shudder. "That guy has no business being a doctor."

"He really doesn't. Morally and with his skill, or there lack of. He's gotta know someone higher up, otherwise I have no clue how he even got in." Leonard says with a shake of his head. "I don't have to worry about her so much, but I do worry about other patients."

"Dr. Hendricks said that his patient list is almost entirely male now." Josh says with a shake of his head.

"Interesting…" I say thoughtfully. "Hey, Dr. McCoy, any way we could possibly find out who his female patients were before they switched?"

"Possibly. If not all, maybe at least a partial. Bring that famous smile by the clinic and we might be able to sweet talk Dr. Lee." He says and I smile my obnoxious, fake sweet smile, where I show all of my teeth. "Darlin', I still don't know how you do that."

"Eh…Tro's slapped me enough today." Jim says and after a moment, she slaps him on the back of the head for good measure. "You are going to give me a concussion!"

"Stop being an idiot." She says with a shrug. "Though I'm curious how she would react." I look between the two of them who are walking slightly in front of us like we're not even there. I feel eyes on me then and I turn around and scan the area.

"Darlin'?" Leonard asks as he reaches out and takes my hand. "Is everything alright?" I do one last scan before I turn and nod.

"I just felt like someone was staring at me." I say and he tucks my hand in the crook of his arm.

"It's not that much further." Josh says and he's walking a little behind me. "I'll bet it's that asshole."

"Probably." Tro says as she looks around. I sigh ever so slightly. Of course, I get jumpy and they turn into a security detail.

"Guys. I'm not some fancy ambassador. We can cut the secret service act." I say as I reach back and pull Josh up to walk on my other side. "I've got my guys and my lady."

"I feel left out now." Jim says over his shoulder. He's directly in front of me. I brace myself and point my toes as I swing my legs forward to kick him in the butt twice before I go back to walking smoothly.

"Do you still feel left out, Jimmy?" I ask sarcastically and he turns his head and grins at me. "I can kick you harder if you want me to."

"I'm good, thanks." He says and I smile. If not for this sinking feeling I have, this would be a pretty great moment. Almost all of the people I care about with me and having a good time.

* * *

"So, you were 'sparring'," Juarez puts air quotes around the word dubiously. I continue to pack up my things seeing as though it's the end of class. "And he 'punched you in the face' and split your lip?"

"I was helping Leonard with his hand-to-hand combat. We were sparring. And this happened, yes. No air quotes." I say as I give him a look. He gives me a look in return that reminds me too much of Jim. "You're awful."

"Is that any way to talk to your mad scramble buddy?" He asks, putting his hand over his heart as if he's offended. "I'm just saying it sounds a bit too much like you guys were goin' at it just a little too rough and…"

"That's enough of that." I give him a look of warning. "I'm telling the truth. He can barely look me in the eye right now, he feels so bad."

"So that's why you dolled yourself up today." He says and I open my mouth to deny it. "Honey, you are an artist when it comes to making those pretty eyes of yours pop. And accentuating those cute little freckles? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trained in obtaining favorable outcomes."

"Well what are these skills if not practiced?" I ask with a neutral tone. "He's being an idiot about it. Getting punched in the face is nothing. Last semester a guy literally made me break a bone. A small bone, but still." I stand up and shoulder my bag. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and convince my boyfriend that he's not a monster."

"Good luck, sweetie." He says and I smile before I head out of class. Normally after our last classes on Fridays, Leonard and I meet up to work out together, but I've got other plans today. I walk across campus to the medical building and take the lift up to the floor where his last class is. It gets out twenty minutes later than mine. I seat myself on the bench across the hall, cross my legs and open up my Federation Cultures notes and begin going over them, but I can't really focus. Was it unfair of me to do this? I typically don't put a whole lot of effort into my appearance. I always present myself as a professional, and today I still am, but more. I put a little more effort into how my curls lay. Like Juarez pointed out, I put on more makeup than just my usual mascara. I don't exactly have time to turn back now. Cadets are coming out of the class now I look up and my eyes meet Leonard's and I smile. He raises his eyebrows but he smiles.

"Olivia, these are my colleagues." He says as he and the two doctors I typically see him around outside of Dr. Lee approach.

"Nice to meet you. Brandon Fairchild." The taller of the two says as he shakes my hand. "Yikes, what are you majoring in?" Of course he means my lip.

"Olivia Gray, mediation." I say with a laugh. "A split lip is absolutely nothing." It's more of a reminder for Leonard.

"Alastair Grace." The other man says and I shake his hand as well. "And don't listen to Fairchild. It doesn't look that bad."

"I know, but I appreciate that." I smile. "It's great to meet some more of McCoy's colleagues. I know Dr. Lee pretty well, but typically I'm running around too much like a crazy person to get to know anyone else around here."

"She's also doing nursing." Leonard supplies the information. "Along with a cadet by the name as Juarez. They run back and forth between here and linguistics most days."

"At least four times a day." I sigh and he chortles. "But it makes up for the less time I have for actual PT, so I can't complain too much."

"You must be his favorite patient." Grace says with a certain quirk in his lip. I catch the look Leonard gives him.

"Top five, but I'm fourth and slipping right now. Or so he says." I say and Fairchild laughs. "I'm a troublemaker between stress fractures and yoyo weight."

"So you must be the mysterious case of technically still fit for duty." He says and I guess I can't blame him for consulting with other doctors.

"I still think she has some sort of tapeworm." Leonard says and I gently elbow him in the ribs. "Well, gentlemen, if you'll excuse us."

"Of course. It was nice to meet you, Olivia." Grace says and they depart. I look up at Leonard with an amused expression.

"Some of McCoy's colleagues? Since when do you call me McCoy again?" He asks as we start walking the opposite direction.

"I don't know. It seemed weird to call you Leonard then." I say with a shrug. "But anyway, I know you were looking forward to our work out, but what if we did something else?"

"Like what?" He asks and I can tell that he's putting distance in between us again. He reaches the landing before me, so I stop a few steps up so that I'm the same height as him. "Darlin'?" He turns.

"Leonard, look at me." I say as I reach out and take his hand and pull him closer. After a moment his dark eyes meet mine. "Stop beating yourself up. It was an accident. They happen. Get over it." He opens his mouth to say something and I put my finger over his lips. "What scares me more is when you distance yourself from me. You've always been oddly emotionally available with me and so the past few days have been weird." He sighs.

"I'm sorry, Darlin'." He says and I pull the hand that I'm holding around and he chuckles as he hugs me. I wrap my arms around him and sigh. "It's kinda funny that you've gotta be two steps up to be eye level with me."

"Listen, I can make you shorter if you want me to." I say and he laughs and picks me up and spins me around to set me down. "Okay, Juarez."

"I'm your boyfriend, damn it. It's cute when I do it." He says as he takes my hand and begins leading the way down the stairs again. "I still feel like a damn monster."

"What did I say? Get over it." I say and he shoots me a look. "It wasn't even that great of a punch. I know you can do better than that."

"Oh, so you're critiquing how I punch you in the face now?" He asks sarcastically. "Real cute."

"Didn't even make me dizzy." I note. "I hope you try harder in your actual class." I get another look. "I think my tactic worked."

"And what tactic could you possibly mean?" He asks as he pushes open the door and holds it for me, I see him tuck away his communicator. I smile as I walk through.

"You wouldn't look me in the eye for two days. So this morning I decided to employ tactics to draw your eyes to mine. I was fine with it, but then I started to feel kind of bad for using my powers for selfish reasons." I say and he looks amused.

"Your powers?" He asks and I shrug. "You do look very nice, Darlin', but don't feel like you've got to entice me to look in those beautiful eyes. I'm the monster, remember?"

"Except you're not a monster." I roll my eyes. "Would it make you feel better if I punched you in the face?"

"Maybe." He says and I scoff. "I'm kidding. So you said let's do something other than workout. I'm gonna take advantage of this opportunity."

"So you have something in mind then?" I ask and he hums, still leading me across campus. It's a beautiful spring afternoon. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Isn't it more…romantic if I don't?" He asks and I think about it. "Look, I haven't been properly sweepin' you off your feet lately."

"Leonard, you don't have to sweep me off of my feet." I laugh. "I like how we are." I take back my hand and take his arm. "Has Spring gotten to you?"

"Well call me a sweetheart, but every once in a while, I think it's alright to try somethin' new." He says and I smile.

"Now this Leonard McCoy is very different from the one I met." My tone is pleasantly surprised.

"There's somethin' about you." He says and I shrug, like it's not a big deal. "What's that look?"

"L'amour est aveugle." I say wistfully. "Love is blind. While I do have some pretty great qualities, I'm just as special as anyone else."

"Call me blind all ya want, but I'm still right." He mutters and I chuckle. I hear someone approaching us from behind and Jim hands Leonard a bag. "Thanks, Jim."

"My pleasure." He says as he offers me a wave. "Enjoy." Then he's gone. I raise an eyebrow.

"I smell a conspiracy." I say and he shrugs. We reach the quad that has the most trees and he leads me out onto the grass, picks a spot and then stops. He opens the bag and pulls out a blanket before he lays it down. I glance inside. Food. "A picnic? That is incredibly romantic, Leonard." We take a seat.

"That's Dr. Romantic." He says and then I crack up. "I don't like how you conditioned me to have that thought process."

"What do you mean, Dr. Sunshine?" I ask and he glowers at me. "It's cute when I do it, but it's hilarious when you do it and you know how much I love to laugh." I shake my head. "I conditioned you." I laugh again. He hands me a plate with good picnic foods. "Nobody has ever surprised me with a picnic before, it's very nice."

"I'm glad you like it." He says and I take in the moment. I'm glad that there are more good ones like this than there are bad ones. It makes me feel like maybe that will be the trend, but then that makes me nervous that I'll get too comfortable.

* * *

"I will reiterate for emphasis that this simulation will take place in a time where you do not expect it and it is meant to simulate a true hostage situation. The point in this exposure is to provide experience in a somewhat controlled environment so that should this occur while in the line of duty, there are few surprises coming from yourself." Commander Martin says as he goes to stand behind the lectern again. "Cadet Gray, I would like to speak with you for a moment. The rest of you are dismissed." I pack up my bag and head to the front of the smaller lecture hall. Once everyone has cleared out, he turns to me. "I'll bet you know why I asked you to stay behind."

"I have an inkling, sir." I say respectfully. "I'm betting it is in regard to certain flags in my file."

"Yes. You're not required to share your personal details, but I wanted to offer an opportunity to discuss more in detail what the simulation will in entail." He says as he gathers the materials he had brought with him. "Also, there is a release that you will need to have signed by your attending physician or their superior in the instance that they are not trained yet in those psychological aspects."

"Yes, sir." I say with a nod. "I will do that. Also, if you don't mind, I want to give more thought into whether or not I want to have more preparation."

"At your leisure, but this simulation is happening next week." He reminds me and I nod. "Very well, you are dismissed."

"Sir." I salute before I turn and head out of class. This conversation has me more than a little nervous. Captain Pike said that this was something that might come up. I'm not diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, but only just so. There are things that bother me. I glance at my watch. I'm supposed to meet Uhura and Juarez…but I think I need to talk to Leonard about this. I shoot them each a message before I head to the clinic. Dr. Lee looks up and smiles at me as I enter.

"Dr. McCoy is with a patient right now, but you're welcome to wait. It shouldn't be too much longer." He says as he gestures to the chair that Leonard normally sits in. I go over and sit down. "Are your classes going well?"

"They are. I'm taking to nursing like a fish to water. If the whole mediator thing doesn't work out, I might go onto be a nurse practitioner." I say and that broadens his smile. "How are your classes?"

"They're going well. As it turns out, I'm thoroughly enjoying psychology. I've heard that you have a degree in it?" He asks and I hum.

"Yes, my original goal was to go on to get a doctorate in counseling psych. I'm not big on research, but I love helping people." I say and he nods. "My favorite class I ever took was probably the one where we learned about why serial killers are the way they are. So we took a look at the really big ones throughout. Like H. H. Holmes, Jack the Ripper, and Ted Bundy. They were sick bastards."

"I think I've heard of Bundy before." He says with a nod. "The victimology is interesting to think about. Why that type?"

"Bundy specifically victimized women who reminded him of the woman who rejected him." I say and then a thought occurs to me, but I keep it to myself. "But she's not the reason he became a killer. People like him…they're born sick. They can have the best life and then at some point, something just snaps in them and they can't contain those destructive feelings anymore." I shake my head. "That went to a weird place, sorry about that."

"No, it's truly fascinating. Don't apologize." He says and then the door to the examination room opens and Leonard leads the way out with a cadet in a sling.

"Try to baby it for the rest of the day, but by tomorrow you should be good. I'm gonna go ahead and excuse you from your PT, just to give it some extra time to set up." He says as he types the information into his tablet.

"Thanks, Dr. McCoy." He says and then he slings his bag on his other shoulder and leaves the clinic. Leonard doesn't look up from his tablet as he comes over to the chair. He turns to sit and I poke him in the butt. He jumps and turns around and I laugh.

"Hey, I've got some official business and some boyfriend business to talk to you about. They coincide." I say as I stand up and go over to pull up one of the chairs from the waiting area.

"Alright, let's get the official business out of the way." He says and I smile as I take out my tablet and send him the release form. He reads it over. "I'll bet I can guess why it also coincides with the boyfriend business."

"Also friend business, I welcome outside opinions, Dr. Lee, if you don't mind." I say and he shakes his head. "So…the release is for a simulation being done to simulate a hostage situation. I won't know when it's coming and it's going to be hyper realistic." I'm explaining for Dr. Lee. "Due to my history, Commander Martin has offered me the opportunity to have more information going into the situation. I don't know if I should do it. Borderline PTSD and all. But I do not have post-traumatic stress."

"But you're on that borderline, Darlin'." Leonard says and then he mauls over the idea in his head. "I'm inclined to tell you to take the opportunity. You already had a near incident this semester."

"Why wouldn't you want to take the opportunity though?" Dr. Lee asks and I sit back and rest my tablet on my lap.

"Because I don't want to let my past define my future. I mean…this simulation is designed to help me experience this situation so that in future situations I won't react adversely." I say and then a message from Uhura pops up. She's concerned. I send back a reassurance with a small smile.

"My next question is in regards to what your greatest fear would be in this situation, if that isn't too personal." He asks and I shake my head.

"It's dumb, but being pulled by the hair." I say and ball my hands into fists. "It's an abusive past relationship why I'm flagged. But just…the thought of going about my normal day and then…" I feel my throat tightening up and I take a breath. "Hits a little close. I put a guy in here for sneaking up behind me once. I broke his nose with my elbow."

"It was a nasty break too." Leonard says and I put my face in my hands. "Darlin', it's not every day you see a break like that. Hell, I'm proud of ya."

"Shut up." I say and look at him, he's wearing a grin. "I don't want to take the opportunity because I'm not the girl who has her day interrupted like that anymore. But at the same time I want to take it because I'm afraid of falling into that mentality."

"There's also the chance that even if you do go in with more information you could fall into that line of thinking." Dr. Lee says and I close my eyes and nod. "I just want you to be prepared."

"No, you're right. I appreciate your honesty." I say and then I sigh. "I'm frustrated with myself because this shouldn't be such a big deal."

"Be patient." Leonard says and I open my eyes and look at him. "Isn't that what you're always tellin' me with the flyin' and space stuff?"

"Staying on subject but remind me later I had an idea." I say and he nods. "But you're not supposed to turn my wisdom back on me."

"Not my fault it's good advice." He grumbles and I laugh. "So are you any closer to a decision?"

"Is there a reason you haven't signed the waiver yet?" I ask as I rest my cheek in my hand. "Because if you're determining whether or not I'm capable by something I'm asking you as my boyfriend, I think that means I need to go to your superior." He gives me a look and he grumbles again before he signs it. "I'm leaning towards no. Because you make a great point." I look to Dr. Lee again. "Maybe preparing for it won't help regardless."

"That's what I would do." He says and I nod. "And to combat your fear and to prepare in a way, maybe the week of the simulation you can style your hair in a way that makes it less likely to be pulled."

"That's a great idea." I nod and then I take a calming breath. "And I won't be in any real danger."

"No matter what, I'm here to support you." Leonard says and I smile. He looks over my shoulder and he shakes his head. "Juarez came to check on you."

"He thinks we do weird stuff because you're also my doctor." I say and Dr. Lee shakes his head before he goes back to reading. "Is Uhura with him?" Leonard nods. "She calls these Dr. Boyfriend moments."

"Accurate, I guess." He says after he thinks it over for a moment. "But just remember," He starts and then he shakes his head. "Your conditioning has got to stop."

"I have literally never conditioned you to do anything. Have I been running secret experiments on Jim? Maybe." I say and he shakes his head. "But that doesn't leave this room because that is highly unethical."

"But it's Jim." He says and I nod. I put my tablet back in my bag before I stand up and lean across the desk to place a kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you for dinner."

"I'm looking forward to it." I say as I put the chair back and then I go and catch up to a retreating Juarez. "Nosey."

"Concerned." He points to himself. "Dr. Boyfriend moments are kind of serious from my past experience with them."

"Eh, it's not that bad this time. Mediator training stuff. The doctor part was having him sign a waiver, the boyfriend part was discussing an opportunity I could take. It was a good conversation." I say and really it was. "Dr. Lee is a good guy."

"He's a cutie too." He says and I shake my head. "But real talk, I'm glad you're okay. We're glad you're okay."

"I brought you a snack." Uhura says as she holds up the small bag. "It's not responsible to go into a test on an empty stomach."

"Thank you." I say with a smile. I glance at the time. "We've still got some time to review things on the way if you guys want." I reach into the bag and grab the apple and take a bite.

"Sounds good to me." Juarez says and then he throws his arm around my shoulders and starts strutting the direction we need to go. I feel the force of Uhura's eye roll, but she follows.

* * *

"I do not have the authority to guarantee your terms, but if you release our injured, we may be able to negotiate further to reach an agreeable result for both sides." I say and the leader of the group that has taken these cadets hostage looks up from me and then the captor behind me grabs a fistful of my hair and hails me into a standing position. My shoulders tense and I close my eyes for a moment. Tears threaten to spill out of them.

"If you don't have authority, then why am I talking to you?" The leader asks, he's right in my face. I open my eyes and maintain a neutral expression.

"Because without talking to me, you will receive nothing. I will reiterate our conditions. Release the injured and we will talk more." I say firmly.

"Fine." He finally says and the man who had lifted me up shoves me down to my kneeling position again. The three cadets who had been labeled as injured are taken out of the room we're being held hostage in. That leaves three captors to four cadets. Two of which are in my combat classes and I know what they're capable of, Simmons especially. Jim happens to be another one and then there is a girl who I've seen in the medical building. When I was able to get a cadet labeled as deceased out of here. It took the captors ten minutes to return. That should be enough time to break the three of us out of our restraints, which are old school zip ties, and take down the three to mount a counter attack on the two captors returning from releasing our injured. I look over my shoulder at Jim and make eye contact with him. I disguise it as scratching my nose on my shoulder. He understands. I trust him to inform Daniels of the plan. I push off of my calves a little bit as if I'm adjusting and I get shoved down again, exactly as I had hoped. As I'm allowing myself to fall back, I bring my hands that are bound in front of me back sharply and break the zip ties. Simmons does the same and he stands up and decks the guy who's been picking on me. I lunge forward and shove the leader off balance. He grabs me by the top of my arm and I use him as leverage to kick him in the head. He falls like a sack of potatoes. I look over and see the female cadet off to the side, out of harms way, and the boys finishing up subduing their targets.

"We've got five minutes before they come back." I say as I take the knife from the leader's boot and go over and cut her zip ties. "Simmons and Daniels to the left of the door. Kirk, we'll take right. Do you have combat experience?"

"No I do not." She says and I nod and guide her to the corner where she'll be safe from the scuffle.

"To position." I order and we prepare. The captors come back and they don't notice the change in tide soon enough to deflect our attack. We take them down easily before I lead the rest of the hostages to safety.

"Time." Commander Martin says as he taps the button. "One hour, fifteen minutes." I let out a breath. "You are all dismissed to the recovery room."

"Sir." I say and we head that way. Jim rubs my back comfortingly, but his arm around me also feels kind of protective. "How'd I do?"

"You were great, Ollie. Seriously. I never felt like you didn't have a handle on the situation." He says and I smile. "That guy could have been less of an asshole."

"It felt good to punch him in the face." Simmons says and I laugh. "Great work, Gray." We enter the recovery room, which is basically just so we can decompress from the high stress situation before returning to our regular day. I know Jim still has a class to go to, but I'm done for the day and I'm thankful. I'm incredibly amused as I see the doctor on duty.

"You didn't hit that guy hard enough, Simmons." Leonard says as he looks up from the screen he had apparently been watching on. "They're peelin' him off the floor now." He's grumpy.

"What favors did you have to pull to land this gig?" I ask as I grab a bottle of water. He shakes his head.

"None. They asked for a couple of volunteers." He says and I shake my head. "I don't like it, but I'm proud of ya."

"I wasn't overly fond either." I say as I go over and sit at the table next to him. Jim sits across from us. I take my hair down and brush my fingers through it. "I'm glad I'm not used to that anymore, but damn."

"Can we talk about why I've never seen Spider Monkey Olivia before?" Jim asks and I hear Simmons laugh. He comes over.

"Gray is insane. Definitely the most improved among the people in our class specifically. I think that's why Commander Groff picks on you." He says and I shrug.

"It paid off apparently." Leonard says and I look at him. "You got the best time, Darlin'. No casualties as a result of your negotiations and all bodies returned."

"Would have been all bodies no casualties at all had the bad guys been a little more careful." I say and he shakes his head. "It wasn't just me though. Yeah, I took command, but if I didn't have the Brawn Brothers and Jim, I would have had to have been more creative. I was lucky."

"That was once. You're really not going to let us live it down?" Simmons asks and I shrug and smile sweetly. "But anyway, if it were my choice, I'd rather be on the talky end of your job than the punchy one."

"I don't like the punchy one." I say as I make a face. He laughs and fist bumps me before he goes back over to where he was before. Oh, I see. He's sweet on our other cadet. She's into it though. I chuckle and shake my head. "I need a nap."

"Why don't you take Dr. Cranky with you when you go, he's still scowling." Jim says and I look at Leonard who is now scowling at him.

"Dr. McCoy has a job to do." I say and then I see Dr. Fairchild walk in and Leonard pats my knee as he stands up and goes over. "Or maybe his shift is up." They have a brief conversation and I read Fairchild's lips. Something about what's happened today? I sit back and run a hand through my hair as Leonard turns around. He comes over and picks up his bag.

"Let's go get you somethin' to eat. And don't you have class?" He asks and Jim looks at the time before he bolts. I chuckle. "If looks would kill, that guy'd be dead."

"No one disrespects his Ollie-pop, didn't you know that?" I ask with faux seriousness. Dr. Fairchild takes one look at me and shakes his head.

"Will there be a time when I see you and you don't have some manner of injury?" He asks and I laugh.

"You missed it by a little over an hour and fifteen minutes." I say as I touch the small goose egg on my temple. I resisted at first and basically injured myself.

"Let's go, you're already down to one-ten." Leonard says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Miss Stress Not Eater."

"Is that what you're doing when you randomly pick me up? Weighing me by hand like I'm a piglet or something?" I ask and Fairchild laughs. "And I'm one-fifteen, jerk."

"That's Dr. Jerk, now get movin'." He says and I roll my eyes before I smile and wave to Fairchild before we leave. "Are you okay?" He asks once we're outside. I appreciate the professional distance he kept in there.

"I'm good." I say as I take his arm. I give his bicep a playful squeeze. "You're extra hot when you wear scrubs." He laughs at that.

"I think you hit your head a little harder than you think you did." He says and I roll my eyes. "Are you really okay?"

"That really bothered you." I assess and it makes sense why he didn't get up when I walked in. Normally he does. "I appreciate your professionalism." He kisses the top of my head. "Hey, I'm not hungry. Let's just head back so I can decompress."

"You will be eating within the next three hours." He says and I nod slowly. "Alright." We head towards our residence hall. "I'll change and be right over?"

"I'm going to grab a shower. So just let yourself in." I say as I stand on my toes to kiss his cheek. We head into our separate dorms and I grab some clothes before I get into the shower. I try to let the water work out the tension in my shoulders, but give up after a few minutes with no results. After I determine myself clean, I shut the water off and dry my body before I dress in my favorite shorts and oversized tee shirt. I scrub my hair dry with the towel before I comb it and apply the two products I normally use. I pitch my towel and head back out to the main part of the room where Leonard stands up from the couch. He comes over and gives me a proper hug. "Your butt looks cuter in the scrubs."

"I'll show you cute." He says as he grabs one of my sides. I jump away with a laugh. "So you said you wanted to take a nap?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to put on a tough guy act but that was pretty intense." I say and he holds me close again. "I'm glad you were there."

"I thought it'd be a nice surprise." He says and I smile. "I've known all week when you were gonna go and so it was rough watchin' you stress out like that."

"Again with that professionalism." I say as I give him a squeeze. "I wonder if you'll be able to keep it up when we're working together. I look pretty good in scrubs too. Troian smacked my ass and asked me for a checkup."

"Of course she did." He says with a roll of his eyes. "If anyone else did that, they'd be on the floor." We sit down and I against him. He rubs my shoulder and kisses the top of my head.

"It's not actually sexual with Tro." I say and then I squint at the light. "Computer, dim lights."

"Did you give yourself a concussion?" He asks as he makes me sit up and produces a little flashlight from basically nowhere.

"I just turned down lights and now you're going to shine that thing in my eyes?" I ask as I swat his hand away. "I'm not concussed. I know what that feels like." I try to get comfortable again. "Where did you even have that?"

"I'm a man of mystery." He says and I laugh. "I knew you wouldn't let me check ya out there, so I waited until now."

"So he's cute and smart." I sound pleasantly surprised. He tilts my chin up and he kisses me. "And an adequate kisser."

"Adequate?" He asks with a raise of his eyebrows. He kisses me again, just a little deeper. "Better?" I pretend to think about it. "You're tough to impress."

"Okay, that wasn't nearly the best you can do." I say with a laugh. "This is going to come out weird, but you're incredibly apprehensive with what I'll call advanced intimacy."

"Advanced intimacy?" He asks with a raise of his eyebrow. "Darlin' with you I'm more worried about makin' sure you feel safe. It's also the sorta thing where I'm gauging how adventurous you are."

"Adventurous?" I ask with a raise of my eyebrows. "So it's not that you aren't attracted to me?"

"Can I tell ya somethin' and you not get mad at me?" He asks and I regard him dubiously before I nod once. "The first time I noticed ya wasn't your black eye."

"You were checking me out." I say and he shrugs. "I guess I just have one of those asses that people like to stare at."

"You have an incredible ass." He says and that makes me giggle and hide my face. "But the rest of you is even better. Well, aside from your tendency to intentionally be a pain in the ass." I laugh again. "I feel like I should say I stopped checkin' you out once we became friends."

"And then started checking me out again when you realized you had stirrings of feelings for me." I say and he looks innocent. "I caught you several times. You're just lucky I don't take offense to it at this point."

"You said puberty hit you like a truck at fourteen." He says and I laugh. That was a conversation our group was having over dinner one night pretty early on.

"These looks cause nothing but trouble." I shake my head. "And I had to wear a full face of makeup every day." Contempt for Niki Gray creeps up. "All in my pearls and my diamonds. Plastering on a smile. Everyone thought I was the perfect girl."

"Well no one is perfect." He tucks my hair behind my ear. "But you're pretty damn close in my opinion. Again, when you're not tryin' to be a pain in the ass."

"And you'll never let me forget it." I say affectionately. "Sorry…she's been coming up in my thoughts a lot lately." He kisses me again.

"I'm qualified, but not necessarily a professional, but I don't think it's healthy to refer to past you as a separate person." He says and I raise an eyebrow in question. "Obviously I don't know every detail, but I do know that you never stopped fightin' for your dreams. You graduated college, two majors and three minors, with a drinking problem and virtually no support system. The way I see it you took yourself back from that situation and started makin' decisions for yourself. So don't have so much contempt for yourself. You did the best you could and I admire you for it."

"I think that's the best thing anyone has ever said to me." I say and I look up towards the ceiling as I feel tears starting to well up. "I hate crying."

"It's just me." He says with a roll of his eyes. "I don't think you're any less of a tough guy."

"It's not about being a tough guy. I'm just tired of crying." I say as I wipe the tears that have fallen away. "If my eyeballs wouldn't shrivel up and fall out, I'd ask you to remove my tear ducts." He laughs at that.

"I don't know if I can help you stop cryin', but I do promise that I'm gonna do my best to make you smile." He says and I close my eyes and shake my head.

"I still don't know where you came from." I say and then I put my finger to his lips. "Figuratively, smart ass." Silent laughter.

"Yeah, well I wasn't always a dreamboat." He says and I look at him. "Darlin', I know you don't forget it, but I got divorced for a reason. Well, a number of reasons. A big one was that I probably never would've married her if I had taken the time to be emotionally available. We got married because it was the next step and then a couple of years down the road Joanna was born. I don't regret that for a minute. She's the best thing to ever happen to me. But once the dust settled, I realized that I really didn't have anything. I drank too much, I wasn't bein' a good example to my daughter of what a man should be. I was lost."

"Accountability looks really good on you." I say and he smiles. "I guess I didn't realize that Rachel was the small-town trap you fell into. I feel kind of insensitive now."

"No, that's absolutely what it was. I didn't get her pregnant first, but I married her for the wrong reasons." He looks at me. "Now don't go thinkin' I'm suggesting anything by sayin' this, but the mistakes I made with her are the reasons why I am the way I am with you."

"I get it." I nod. "Well, you've grown into a great man, Leonard. Even if you secretly check women out."

"I'm tellin' ya, no one else has caught my eye. You're somethin' special." He says and then he holds me a little closer. "I do love you, Olivia Gray."

"And I love you too." I smile before I yawn. "I think a nap is in order. Shall we watch a movie?"

"Sure." He says and I pull the blanket off of the back of the couch and cover myself up while he brings up the screen. "Any requests?"

"Surprise me." I say and his arm comes around me as I use him as a pillow. I lace my fingers with his and settle in.

* * *

"So, Dr. Lee," I say as we look over the x-ray of my ankle. "How brave are you feeling today? I know what our agreement is, but Leonard is currently taking an exam."

"He's not going to be thrilled with either of us." He says and I weigh my options. "While worse than the last break I saw you for, it's still technically not that bad. It's a very simple procedure, I've done it over a hundred times. You probably won't even have a scar for that long at all."

"I still hear about last time every now and then." I say with a sigh. "I trust you, but it's a matter of how long do we want to listen to him complain about it? You're only stuck in here with him a few days of the week, I choose to spend more time with him." He laughs then.

"It's ridiculous that we're even having this conversation right now." He shakes his head. "He's pretty quick on his exams usually."

"Good point." I say and then I take out my tablet and send him a message. "If he had control issues in any other aspect of our relationship, I might consider it a problem."

"He certainly cares for you quite a bit. How bad is your discomfort right now?" He asks and I gauge it.

"I'm at about a seven." I say and he nods before he prepares an injection. "I hate those things." I look away as he comes over and injects me with the pain medication. "And I call that stuff truth serum." My tablet pings and I look. "Looks like we've lucked out. I'll let you officially call him, so he feels extra special."

"Alright." He says with a shake of his head before he goes to do just that. I lay back and close my eyes, becoming less tense as the medication begins to do its job. He returns rather quickly. "He's on his way. How's your pain now?"

"Five." I say, not opening my eyes. "Five and getting better." I open my eyes then and narrow them at my ankle. "I'm not so unsure that Hall didn't do this on purpose." Leonard sighs as he enters the room, dressed in scrubs. Dr. Lee must have filled him in.

"That's a pretty serious allegation." Dr. Lee says and then it looks like he's trying to gauge my reaction to the pain medication.

"I get honest, not crazy." I say and his look says 'fair enough'. "I suppose you guys would rather dig deeper into said allegations later?"

"Better safe than sorry." Leonard says as he comes over and begins looking over the x-ray. "What the hell did you do?"

"Events lead up to it and then my foot was firmly planted and the rest of me was twisted another way and I fell." I say and he sighs again. "We almost didn't call you, so don't be so grumpy. We actually saved you the extra grump today."

"What a sweetheart." He says and then he looks to me. "It's gonna be pretty cool, you wanna watch?"

"It'll be good experience." I say and he chuckles and we go about preparing me for the procedure. "You know? Maybe I shouldn't watch. My filter gets pretty nonexistent when I'm on drugs. I got smacked a lot for it."

"Well I can promise you won't get smacked here." Leonard says and I can tell that he wants to be Dr. Boyfriend, but he refrains from it.

"Okay, but when I start flirting with you because of those scrubs and I want to recede into nothing later because of embarrassment, it's your fault." I say and he shakes his head with a quiet laugh.

"There's nothing you can say that we haven't heard before." Dr. Lee says, trying to reassure me.

"And at least since we are involved, it's technically not sexual harassment." Leonard says and I laugh. "Alright, Darlin', you might feel some pressure."

"Child's play." I say and then the procedure begins. "So how long am I looking at for down time?"

"It should only be about three days." Dr. Lee says as he monitors me. "Are you still doing alright?"

"Is pinching normal?" I ask and he adjusts some levels. "So that's a no." I watch Leonard's face. Obviously he's super focused on what he's doing and he looks incredibly handsome. "I think that face is the one I fell in love with." There's a slight quirk in his lip now. "God damn it." I put my hand over my face. "I hate pain medication."

"I don't know, I kinda like it." He notes, his eyes moving to mine briefly. "And that's tame to what Mrs. Jenkins would say to me."

"Pretty nonexistent filter, not completely nonexistent." I say and the quirk is back. "Quit smirking."

"Quit thinkin' dirty things about me." He says and I glare at him. "We're just about done in here."

"Good." I say and I can tell he's amused, but since he is a good doctor, it doesn't distract him. He finishes the repair and closes the incision. Dr. Lee does the dressing as Leonard cleans up. I lay my head back and close my eyes.

"Olivia?" Leonard asks and I look at him. "You good?" I hum and close my eyes again. "You'll have to stay here for probably half an hour, then I'll help ya back to your room."

"Sounds good." I say and I hear as they leave the room. After a little while I hear the door open again, I crack an eye open to see Leonard and I smile. He pulls up a chair beside me, sits down and takes my hand. He places a kiss on it.

"You are capable of being a good patient." He says and I open my eyes again and give him a look. "Lucky you, I'm done for the day, so you have my full attention."

"I'm overjoyed." I say dryly and he chuckles. "I wasn't thinking dirty things about you. That was mean."

"I'm sorry." He says and then he brushes my hair back. "What were you thinkin' then that you thought you should filter out?"

"Things that I wouldn't tell you even in private. Too soon." I say and he raises an eyebrow. "Don't press. I'm in a vulnerable state."

"Don't you remember me sayin' there was nothing you could say that would freak me out?" He asks and I shrug and close my eyes. "I meant it."

"I know you meant it, but that doesn't mean that there couldn't be something. Nobody is capable of fathoming every single possible thing that could bother them. I mean, I thought Jim would run out of things to bug me about two months ago." I say and then I sigh. "It all boils down to, I like spending time with you."

"The feeling is mutual." He says and I smile. "So you really think Hall did this on purpose?"

"Nobody should have been using force enough to break anything that badly." I open my eyes and look at my bandaged ankle. "Motive? Last class, he was being incredibly sexist. He said there was no way a woman could beat him. I wasn't even going to pay any attention to it, but a couple of the other women in my class tried and they lost. He got louder about it, so I walked up and took him down in about three moves."

"We'll definitely pursue this one then." He says and I smile. "Commander Groff should already be raising questions about the amount of force used. Did Simmons bring you in here?"

"Actually, Daniels did. He said something about Simmons wanting to beat the crud out of Hall." I shake my head. "Has it been half an hour yet? It's cold in here."

"Do you feel like you could walk?" He asks and I think for a moment before I nod. "Alright." I guess I hadn't noticed that he'd brought in the crutches. He helps me off of the bed and I keep my bad foot off of the floor as I take the crutches and take an experimental step. I'm good. I start heading for the door.

"I hope it doesn't surprise you that I'm an expert at this." I say and he shakes his head as he grabs my bag for me. I smile to Dr. Lee on the way out and once we're outside, I'm immediately warm. "That's a lot better."

"Would you slow down? I realize you might be an expert, but you are still injured." He says and I look over my shoulder at him. "I'm a doctor, damn it, you should listen to me about these things at least."

"Dr. Hunky, this is hardly the worst injury I've had in my life." I say and then I turn my attention ahead of me as I crutch down the stairs, a little slower than I would have otherwise. "We should stop for food first."

"That's a good idea. I know you had a light lunch." He says and I look over my shoulder at him again. "I'm not the one stalkin' you. Fairchild noticed and decided to let me know. As if you listen to me."

"So your friend is stalking me. Joy." I say and he chuckles. We make it to the mess hall and Leonard makes me sit down before he goes and gets us food.

"Ollie?" Josh asks as he's walking by with his own tray. "What happened to you? Please tell me you're not here alone."

"Relax." I say gently. "I'm not alone, Leonard went to get me something to eat. I broke my ankle, but it's fixed. I'm just going to be gimpy for a couple of days."

"Three days." Leonard says as he sets the tray down in front of me. "And I'll follow ya around to make sure of it if I have to."

"I don't know why I didn't like you more to begin with." Josh says as he sets his tray down across from me. Leonard has a seat as well. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. A little honest from pain meds, but I'm fine. I'm like a cheetah on crutches, so it's barely like anything is wrong." I say and I see Leonard roll his eyes in my peripheral vision. "I have places to be, Leonard."

"Well, if you need help getting to the places you need to be for the next three days, all you have to do is ask." Josh says and I smile at him. "At least it's Thursday."

"Yeah and Juarez and I are in classes together all day tomorrow. So it'll work out." I shrug. "I'm not really worried about it." I begin to pick at my food.

"I got that for you to eat, not to pick at like a damn bird." Leonard says and I shoot him a look.

"Look, I said I should eat. My body just literally has no desire to consume anything." I say and he looks concerned.

"This might have been a more serious injury than I first thought." He says and then he looks to Josh. "Did she try to consume everything in sight as a kid?"

"Nope, she just had a deep appreciation for food." He says and I shake my head. He takes a bowl off of his tray and puts it on mine. "Try that out." It's applesauce. I take a bite.

"Huh. That didn't make me feel like I was going to hurl." I say and I go in for another bite. "Why does my appetite become that of a toddler's when I'm on this shit."

"Really though, that used to be all Mom and I could get you to eat when you were sick. At least until you turned five, then you decided that you absolutely hated applesauce." He says and I laugh.

"I remember that." I smile. We have some good memories with our mother…she just never fought back or tried to keep us safe. She just gave in to it. I attempt to eat some more, but my body really just won't have it. At least I've got something in my system. A little more than half of what he brought me and then all of the applesauce.

"Alright, we'll get ya back to your room so that you can rest up." Leonard says as he stacks our trays.

"And I'll let you know if I need any help." I say to Josh with a smile. "Thanks for the applesauce."

"No worries." He says and I grab the crutches and haul myself up. Leonard gives me a long look.

"I am a strong, independent woman and I can hobble around by myself." I say, channeling most of my sass. "Bye Josh." That part was sweet.

"It was good seein' ya again." Leonard says to my brother who waves and we leave. "You need to take it easy."

"I'm using the crutches, aren't I?" I ask and then I smile. We make it to our residence hall and arrive at my room. I hobble over to my bedroom and pause briefly to check him out as he sets my bag down. I go to my dresser and pull out some shorts and a tee shirt. Basically, my uniform for hanging out around my room. I lean the crutches against the wall and I pull my tank top and sports bra off before I put the tee shirt on. I pull my leggings down over my butt before I sit down on the bed. I take off my remaining tennis shoe and sock and then pull them off the rest of the way. Then I pull the shorts most of the way up and finish by standing. I've got this. I take the crutches and head back out to the living room. He's set up a pretty great nest for me.

"Do you want me to stick around?" He asks and I appraise him as I crutch over. "Darlin'?" I stand up on my toes, still holding my bad foot off of the ground and I kiss him.

"There may have been some dirty thoughts." I say and he smirks. "Those biceps…Makes me want to study anatomy again."

"Alright, Darlin'." He helps me sit down before he props up my ankle and puts an ice pack on it. "I'm gonna change before you hurt yourself, since I'm so hard to resist." I roll my eyes. "I'll be back." He leans over and kisses the top of my head before he leaves. I lay my head back and close my eyes.


	8. What I Was Missing

_What do I do when I have a bad day? I write pure fluff. The momentum on my inspiration hasn't slowed down at all, so I hope you enjoy this chapter! Back to Georgia we go!_

* * *

Leonard leans against the pillar of the front porch of his parents' house with his hands in his pockets giving me an unimpressed look as I walk up. He really should be more impressed, I put some more effort than usual into my appearance. It was a total of four days before Lucille called and demanded that I join them for the rest of the time that Leonard is staying. It's only a week and I'm not sad to be here. I just thought some time with his family would be good for him, especially considering there is going to be yet another big McCoy get-together.

"If you say I told you so, I'm turning around and going back to San Francisco." I say as I walk up the steps. When I reach him he greets me with a kiss instead. "Better."

"I wouldn't hear the end of it if you went back now." He says as he takes one of my bags. I roll my eyes and walk inside. Lucille meets me with a huge smile and a hug.

"I cannot believe he let you talk him into you stayin' there all by yourself." She says, shooting her son a look.

"I was fine, I promise." I say, laughing a little as I return her hug. I'll bet I can guess why she was so nervous about me being there. He's been here before when I was, so that makes me pretty nervous. "But thank you for having me. It's a very nice change of scenery."

"Aren't you the sweetest." She says as she cups my cheek. "I'll let you go ahead and get settled in. I'm so happy to see you, Olivia." One more hug before she goes off to do whatever she was doing before. Leonard leads the way up the stairs and into the room I stayed in the last time I was here.

"Did you miss me too?" I ask as I set my other bag down on the bed. He turns to me and appraises me.

"I may have noticed that you weren't around." He says and I smile. "So how was it? Did you manage to sustain any injuries?"

"Funny you should say that. I had this crazy dream and I ended up falling out of bed." I say and I show him the bruise on my leg. "I laughed for ten minutes."

"I'll bet you did." He rolls his eyes, but he walks over, takes me in his arms and kisses me again, a little deeper than the kiss he gave me on the porch. "Maybe I did miss ya."

"Well you're used to me bothering you every single day. I thought distance would do some good for your mental health." I say and he rolls his eyes and presses one more kiss to my lips before he releases me. Eight months we've been together and they've been the best eight months of my life. "Your mom does realize that I wasn't entirely alone on campus, right?"

"I tried to tell her." He says with a shrug, but I get the notion that he didn't try all that hard. "What's that look."

"A hunch." I say, narrowing my eyes at him. "Oh!" I get excited then and I pull the small gift I brought for Joanna out. "I was out with Juarez and I picked these up for Joanna! She's going to love it." I open the box and show him. "They're scarves that will look adorable in her hair to match her new school uniform."

"I'm sure she's gonna love them, Darlin'." He says with a smile. "So how was that? Runnin' around with Juarez?"

"It was exhausting." I sigh. "That boy dragged me literally all over San Francisco…but it was pretty fun."

"I'm glad you had a good time. It probably did ya some good to do some runnin' that wasn't PT related." He says and I give him a look. "Well, I'll be downstairs if you need anything." I shake my head, but then smile. He leaves and I unpack my things into the drawers. After freshening up, I grab my tablet and head downstairs. Thomas stands up from his chair.

"Olivia, I'm glad you're here." He says with a smile and I shake his hand, but then he pulls me in for a brief hug.

"I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me." I say and he smiles before he goes back over and sits down. I take a seat on the couch beside Leonard and open up the text for one of my new classes that will be starting in two weeks. This upcoming semester should be less physically strenuous considering my course load is entirely academic.

"You're supposed to be on vacation, not readin' about," He briefly reads over the text. "Oh, this one I understand. Pharmacology."

"If I get a head start, I'm less likely to get as stressed out." I say and he regards me dubiously. I ignore him and go back to reading. I think this is one of my favorite parts of spending time with the McCoys, sitting with Leonard and his father. Not particularly doing anything, but just being together. Whenever I did sit with my family, I would be rigid the entire time, but here I am relaxed. I hear glass shatter in the kitchen and I toss my tablet aside and vault over the back of the couch. "Lucille?" I ask as I run into the kitchen. Leonard isn't far behind me.

"These clumsy hands." She says with a shake of her head as she goes to the sink. Leonard grabs the first aid kit and I go about cleaning up the glass pitcher. "Olivia, sweetheart, you don't have to clean that up."

"Don't worry about a thing." I say as I carefully collect the bigger pieces. I'm good at cleaning up glass without hurting myself because I had to do it a lot before.

"Actually, do you mind helpin' me out for a second, Darlin'?" Leonard asks and I hum before I set the greater part of the glass aside and go over. "There's a piece of glass in there, kinda hold it open for me. Perfect." He uses the forceps to grab it out of there. "Hey, this is good practice."

"I'm going to be a great nurse. If I'm taking care of one of your patients, they'll have my sunny disposition to remedy your cranky one." I say and Lucille chuckles as she places her hand on my back.

"It's pretty deep, but you won't need stitches, Momma." He says to his mother, ignoring my comment completely. "Alright, Ollie. Thank you."

"My pleasure." I say and then I turn to go back to picking up the glass, but Thomas has already finished.

"You're a lot more nimble than you were the last time you were here." He says as he dumps the glass into the trash can.

"It helps with the job." I smile before I dispose of the big chunks of glass. "It's also pretty cool that my body does what I tell it to do."

"And when it doesn't, that's where I come in." Leonard says dryly. "This girl, Momma." He shakes his head.

"You oughta be more nice to that girl, Leonard." Lucille says and I smile sweetly. Thomas chuckles. "Thomas would you mind grabbing the other pitcher down for me? The two of you go and relax."

"Lucille, I don't mind helping out." I say and she gives me a long look. "Yes, ma'am." Leonard and I return to the living room. "We make a pretty good team, don't we?"

"We do alright." He agrees and I return to my seat on the couch. "I really do think you'll make a great nurse."

"That means a lot." I smile at him as he sits down beside me and drapes his arm along the back of the couch, bringing us a little closer together. "That's what I was missing."

"What was missing?" He asks, looking down at me with a raised eyebrow. I gesture to his arm.

"You're just so casual about it, it doesn't really seem like that big of a deal anymore. It's just natural, so when I was trying to study the other day, I couldn't get comfortable and now I know why." I say and that puts a little grin on his face as he goes back to reading. I smile and grab my tablet from where I'd tossed it and go back to reading about pharmacology. After a little while, I hear a car pull up. Leonard looks over and his expression drops from neutral to cranky. "Let me guess, Andrew's here."

"Joy." He says and I shake my head. "What it must be like to not have a pain in the ass for a brother."

"Jokes on you, I'm the pain in the ass." I say and he gives me a long look. "You remind me that I'm a pain in the ass all the time."

"You're stubborn, he's just a pain in the ass." He says and the door opens. "Andrew." He doesn't look at him.

"Hey Leonard, oh and Miss Olivia. It is always a joy to see your beautiful smile around here." He says and I feel the smile grow, mostly in amusement at Leonard's annoyance.

"It's good to see you too, Andrew. Your mom wouldn't let me miss this McCoy shindig." I say and he puts his hand over his heart.

"This one is almost bigger than Christmas." He says and I smile. "I'm gonna go set my stuff down, then we can catch up."

"Take your time." Leonard drawls and his brother's mood doesn't change as he goes up the stairs. "Why do you encourage him?"

"Because he hasn't said anything that could be remotely annoying." I'm trying to contain my amusement.

"As if he isn't flirtin' up a storm with you." He says and I regard him dryly. Then I see as something occurs to him. "You know? I may not have mentioned that we were dating." Andrew comes down the stairs and sits in the chair next to my spot on the couch.

"So, how have you been?" He asks, all of his attention on me. I cross my legs and turn to face him a little more.

"Pretty good actually. I dropped engineering and picked up nursing. That's going well aside from the commute to classes between the buildings. Mediation is going well. Currently I'm ranked number one in the program." I say and he looks impressed.

"Currently. As if you're not gonna dominate that spot until you graduate." Leonard says and I smile. His arm drops from the back of the couch to come around my shoulders. "We also started datin' in January. I like to think that's goin' pretty well too."

"It's alright." I say and I feel the look he gives me. Andrew isn't put off. It's as I assumed. He's only ever flirted with me to get under Leonard's skin.

"I figured as much. What'd he do? Kiss ya at the new year?" He asks and I shrug. "The way you avoided him was pretty funny actually."

"I'm glad it amused you." Leonard says dryly. "What have you been doin'?" I'm proud of him for being civil.

"Mostly work, some play. It's been a boring eight months in my personal life, but I can't complain. I've done a lot of good work." He says and I smile. "What about you? Other than datin' Miss Olivia, of course. Any interesting surgeries?"

"Not too much surgical work." He says and then he points at the faded scar on my ankle. "This one broke her ankle somethin' awful. That's the most notable thing."

"It wasn't that bad." I say with a roll of my eyes. Andrew raises an eyebrow at me. With the advancements in medicine, people rarely have to actually get their bones surgically mended. "It was serious, but it wasn't awful. Maybe someone else would have thought it was, but I'm pretty tolerant to pain."

"And pain medicine." Leonard says and I shoot him a look, he smirks at me. "It's a statement of fact, Darlin'."

"I'll give ya a statement of fact." I say and Andrew laughs. "Oh, I found my brother who left home thirteen years ago."

"That's great, I didn't even know you had a brother." He says and I smile. "So what's he up to?"

"He's also at Starfleet, taking the engineering track. He was always good at building things and so I'm really happy that he found his way there." I say and that reminds me to send him a message. "He helped me talk Leonard into agreeing about private school for Joanna."

"She's going to be amazing there." Andrew smiles with pride for his niece. "Well, I'll let the two of you spend some time together."

"Be careful. They've been in there alone for a while." Leonard says and Andrew makes a face before he gets up and then makes a big deal about heading for the kitchen. "You be careful around here too. You're like a cat, maybe I should get you a bell."

"I presume it's things like sneaking kisses and whatnot, but you're making it sound a lot worse." I say and he shakes his head.

"Yesterday, I walked in on them makin' out." He says and I cover my mouth, trying to hide my smile. "You think it's funny."

"I think it's sweet." I shrug. "They're in love. If they wanna make out in their own home, then they should be able to." I always dreamed of growing up and getting married to a man who didn't let the romance fizzle out.

"What's that look?" He asks and I feel my cheeks flush ever so slightly and I curse myself but shake my head none the less. "Darlin'…"

"It's weird." I say and then I fake a yawn and go to stand up, but he pulls me back down. "Leonard." I sigh. "Fine. That was part of my ideal future. Growing up, having a career, getting married to the love of my life and then doing stuff like that. Dancing in the living room. Sneaking kisses when we have company over. Am I free to go before I die of embarrassment?"

"I've never actually heard of a case of someone dyin' from embarrassment." He says and I roll my eyes. "But you shouldn't be embarrassed, and I'd like it if you stayed." I narrow my eyes at him as I sit back. He smiles and puts his arm around me before he leans in and gives me a sweet kiss. That's when Thomas sits back in his chair and goes back to reading his newspaper. I tuck my hair behind my ears before I pick up my tablet and go back to reading.

* * *

"So what exactly is this party to celebrate?" I ask as I wrap lights around the branch of the tree. Leonard won't be thrilled when he sees me up here, but Andrew and I can at least get this one done while he's off trying to find the ladder.

"That's a great question." He says thoughtfully. "You know? I think it might just be because Momma's family never really got together much when she was growin' up. And so when she and Pa got married, they started makin' traditions. He can't say no to her." He looks fond. "That's in general though. This year it's also kind of a wedding reception for our cousin Will and his wife Hannah. They were at her parents' house for Christmas this year."

"Nice." I say with a nod. I look over and I see Leonard, no ladder in hand. "Incoming, we've got a grump." I wrap the strand one last time. "There we go. Now two more." I carefully make my way back towards the trunk before I climb back down to the table that Andrew insisted I climb on to at least make it 'a little easier' for me. Leonard gives me his unimpressed look as he picks me up by the waist and sets me down. "Hi."

"Hi." He says dryly. "Well you win." I stand on my toes and peck his cheek before we move onto the next tree. "You climb around like a damn monkey."

"Jim does call me a spider monkey." I say as I hoist myself up. "Maybe I missed my calling. I should join a circus. Change my name to something exotic."

"You'd get bored with that real quick. You're a glutton for research." Leonard says and I shrug.

"I do love some good research." I say and as I shift, I go off balance a bit. I quickly right myself and I feel the grin on my face as I go back to what I was doing. "So how much trouble will you guys get in if your mom comes out here and sees me up in this tree."

"I reckon a whole heap of trouble." Andrew says with a sigh. "But Leonard's the one who couldn't find the ladder, and you're his lady friend."

"I'll keep you guys out of trouble." I chuckle as I climb to another branch. "Besides, you two are probably too heavy to do what I'm doing."

"We need to have a conversation about that Miss One-Ten." Leonard says and I wave him off.

"My appetite is coming back, don't worry." I say and I feel the force of his eye roll. "I used to be really underweight, so you should actually be proud of me for sticking around one-ten." I move to another branch and continue my work. This one is going faster since I'm not trying to be so sneaky. I glance over and see Thomas walking towards us with the missing ladder. I shake my head and go to move to another branch, but my foot slips and I go backwards. I lash out quickly and stop my fall.

"That's enough. Get on the ground, please." Leonard says, I hear the stress in his voice. I climb lower and I sit down on the lowest branch. He reaches up and plucks me out of the tree. "Are you okay?" I do an assessment.

"I've had worse almost falls." I decide with a shrug and he gives me a look. "Andrew, did I fall out of the tree?"

"You did not." He confirms and Leonard turns his look on his younger brother. "She wasn't even up that high, relax."

"We won't bring this up." Thomas says as he looks amongst us. "Are you alright, Olivia?"

"I'm fine." I reassure him and he nods before he hands the ladder off to Andrew. "Am I allowed to climb the ladder, Leonard?"

"I think you're done climbin' for the day. Get on with it, Andrew. You could use the extra physical activity."

"Be nice." I say and he shakes his head, again not liking that I defend Andrew. It amuses me though. Andrew walks over to the next tree. I grab Leonard's hand. "You need to quit picking me up like that."

"What's the big deal?" He asks and I give him a look. It takes him a second to process it, but I see when the lightbulb goes off in his head and that smirk that I both love and hate comes out. "Oh." I glare at him as I walk over to the next tree where Andrew is waiting expectantly for us.

"You know, I'm kind of curious." Andrew says as he glances down between Leonard and I. "Which one of you would win in a chin up contest?"

"I feel like you're trying to make fun of Leonard, but he's actually not a slouch." I say and he grins as he pulls up some more lights.

"You have to say that, you're his girlfriend." He says and I roll my eyes. "I'll bet you can't prove it."

"Alright. What do you bet?" Leonard says and I raise my eyebrows. Andrew actually looks a little surprised too.

"If you can do one hundred and fifty chin ups, I won't harass you about how much you've been checkin' out Miss Olivia, and if I slip up, it won't be around Momma." He says and I laugh. "The contest is first to that number. I'll bet she's a lot faster than you."

"That you don't have to bet on." Leonard says and I smile. "Now quit stallin' and hurry up." He finishes the last of it. "Now let's go get this outta the way."

"Now hold on a minute. If you can't do all of the pull ups…" Andrew starts and then he looks around. "You have to announce to the whole family what a great brother I am and wear a tee shirt that says it."

"What are you, twelve?" I ask with a laugh. "I wonder if now would be a good time to talk about our daily work outs together, Wednesday are pull-up slash dead hang days." We go into the barn, which is open. Leonard leads the way over to where a bar is that he'll be able to reach easily.

"Hold on a second and we'll…" Andrew starts but then I situate myself beneath it, judge the distance, and jump up and grab it. "Well alright then. Leonard, don't make the lady wait." And we're off. At eighty, I'm starting to feel the burn a bit. As I lower myself I see Rachel and Joanna walking towards the barn. Oh lord.

"Daddy!" Joanna exclaims as she runs the rest of the way in. She see's what he's doing and settles for cuddling into the side of her uncle.

"Hold on a minute, Sweetie. Daddy's winnin' a bet." Leonard says and then he glances over at me. "You doin' alright, Darlin'?"

"Never better." I quip and speed back up. "Fifty more. What are you at?" I ask as I glance over at him.

"Sixty for me." He says and I feel a somewhat proud smirk cross my face, but I quickly push it back and go back to quietly doing my chin ups. I would get too distracted if I watched him. Those biceps.

"One forty-eight. One forty-nine." I pause briefly and pull myself up one more time. "One-fifty!" I let go and shake out my hands. A few moments later, Leonard is finished as well.

"Daddy you're so strong!" Joanna exclaims as she runs and jumps into his arms. He laughs as he hugs her close. "And you too, Miss Ollie!"

"All it takes is hard work and dedication." I say with a smile. Rachel is standing a few feet away, looking unimpressed and especially unfriendly. She must have heard that Leonard and I are actually dating now. "I'm so happy to see you, Joanna, but I'm going to see if your grandma needs any help."

"Okay! We can play later!" She says and I smile brightly before I retreat. On my way out, I offer Rachel a smile and a wave. When I get inside, I don't find Lucille, so I head upstairs and wash my face. I don't know why I feel like this…so nervous. I have nothing to be afraid of with Rachel. I don't need to compare myself to her. Regardless, I decide to fix my hair. I take it down the from the half up bun and re-do it so that it's a little more neat. I feel a little better. I go to my room and call Tro.

"Hey Peaches, is everything okay?" She asks upon answering and I smile. She wouldn't admit that she was a little worried when I told her I was coming here.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I say as I close the door. "Except Leonard's ex-wife is here and she looks like she especially doesn't like me and it's making me feel really weird. More weird than last time."

"I feel like this is normal." She says evenly. "But what do you mean weird? Because that's different for us."

"I don't know." I say and then I sigh. "I think I'm comparing myself to her." I whisper and she makes a noise of disapproval.

"You do realize that he divorced her, right?" She asks, sounding pretty sassy. "That is his ex-wife, ex meaning he no longer is interested in being married to her."

"Yes, I know that." I whisper. "I just…I don't know. I'm hiding in my room right now. Andrew bet Leonard he couldn't do one hundred and fifty chin ups, but somehow, I became involved. So towards the end of that is when she and Joanna showed up and so I just feel really weird about it now. Help."

"Relax." She says calmly. "You're a bad ass, don't feel weird about that. I guarantee that you have nothing to worry about. I know a lot about this man. He's totally into you. No ifs, ands, or buts." I sigh. "Look, if it gets really bad, I'll come kidnap you. Trollie for life." I laugh.

"Trollie for life." I say and then I take a deep breath. "Alright. I'm going back in. If I don't message you in an hour…make sure I'm still alive."

"Copy that." She says and then she hangs up. I place my communicator back in my pocket and roll my shoulders before I open my door and see Leonard on the stairs.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He asks as he walks up to me. I smile and give him my most reassuring smile. "Did you see the look on Andrew's face?"

"I did." I say with a smile and then I look over at the gift box sitting on the dresser. "Hey, I was thinking. Why don't we say you got the scarves?" I see as everything comes together in his head. "Go away." I step back to close the door.

"The harpy is scarin' you." He says as he wraps me in his arms to prevent my escape. "But what I can't imagine is why?"

"I am not scared." I say and it's the truth. I never said anything about scared. "There may be feelings of weird, but I am not afraid."

"What do you have to feel weird about?" He asks, getting me with that sassy eyebrow raise, like he has an answer for anything I might say.

"First of all, I don't know if you saw the daggers she was glaring at me." I say and he sighs. "Okay…it's probably the sort of thing where I'm nervous because of how I grew up, but…"

"So we've gone from weird to nervous." He says and I settle on his eyes with a look and his own gaze softens a bit. "Olivia, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Now I know you won't take credit for the gift, so I'll let you fudge and say that we got them for her."

"Such a gentleman." I say and he grins before he kisses me. I step out of his arms and grab the box. He takes my hand and keeps hold of it as we go downstairs and back outside. I glare at him up until we reach Andrew, Rachel, and Joanna.

"Sweetheart, we've got a surprise for you." He says and Joanna jumps off of the swing and runs over to us. I give her the box and she opens them. "They're to wear in your hair when you go to that new school."

"They're so pretty! Thank you!" She exclaims as she hugs the both of us. I smile as I wrap an arm around her and give a light squeeze. "Uncle Andy told me to ask you guys to race!"

"Oh, now, I'm not going to embarrass him that badly in front of his brother." I say and she giggles.

"You weren't supposed to tell them that I asked you to say it, Rugrat." Andrew says as he comes over and lifts her up. She squeals and hands her gift to Leonard so she can rough house with her uncle. Rachel walks over and he hands it to her. She looks at them.

"These are really pretty." She says with a slight smile. "I've never seen a kid more excited to go to school than she is about this one."

"A friend told me that they had felt the same way Joanna does, but they never had the opportunity to get a better education early on. Now this person is incredibly accomplished, but they feel like they could do so much better if they'd had that…so as her father it was obvious to support it." He says and I smile.

"And how cute is she going to look in that little uniform?" I say and Rachel actually smiles. "She's a very cool little girl."

"She is." Rachel agrees and then she turns her attention fully to me. "I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier. How are your studies going?"

"They're going very well." I say with a small smile. "The mediation is going better than I expected it to and I'm really liking my nursing courses."

"Better than you expected." Leonard scoffs. "This woman neutralized a hostage situation in simulation in just over an hour. Best time out of all in the program."

"Leonard." I say, embarrassed by his bragging. "The next best was only off by four minutes. It really wasn't that big of a deal." While the timing is true, two of the 'hostages' were killed.

"Don't be modest, that's amazing." She says and I feel like it's a trap. She wants me to brag.

"I just believe in working hard to do my job right so that we can keep things peaceful. Ideally, that doesn't involve force, but sometimes you don't have any other choice." I say and I see something in her eyes. I was right. Joanna runs up and grabs my hand then.

"Come on, Miss Ollie! Let's play tag with Uncle Andy!" She exclaims as she starts to pull on my hand.

"Oh, okay!" I say and then I let myself be dragged away. "Alright, who's it right now?" She grins.

"I am! But we're a team, right!?" She asks and I nod once and we both take off running towards him. He's standing in the middle of the yard.

"Hey! That's cheatin'!" He exclaims as he runs away. She's all over the place trying to catch him. I herd him into her and she tags him and takes off the other way. He reaches out a hand, trying to tag my shoulder but I dance out of the way with a laugh before I start running away too.

"Ollie!" She giggles as Andrew chases her. They're running away from me, so I run up from behind and scoop her up and keep running.

"Hey! Now that's super cheatin'!" He feigns outrage. She is giggling like a maniac now and it's infectious. I set her down and we wait for him to catch up before we take off running past him again, but he reaches out and grabs Joanna. He falls to the ground with her and he's tickling her. The three of us are just laughing now. "Okay, Uncle Andy needs a break, Sugar cube." He's panting hard. "Good lord you two are fast!" He lays back with his hand over his stomach and sticks his tongue out to the side.

"Oh no! Uncle Andy!" She exclaims and then she straightens him out and turns him on his side. "Nurse!"

"Yes Dr. McCoy!" I quip as I sit down on my knees beside her. "What can I do to help you?"

"The patient needs lemonade!" She looks at me. "I'm pretty sure Mamaw made some!" I stand up then.

"I'm on it!" I say and then I jog off. Leonard and Rachel are actually bringing out the lemonade. "Perfect, the younger Dr. McCoy over there says that this will cure him. Thanks." I take two glasses and jog back over. "Here it is!" I hand her the glass and she helps him sit up and take a drink.

"It's a miracle!" He exclaims as he wraps an arm around her and takes the glass. I hand her the other glass then.

"That was some hard doctoring there, drink up." I say and she dutifully takes a drink of the lemonade and then smiles.

"We almost lost him, but since we were such a great team, he made it!" She says and I can't keep the big grin off of my face.

"Thank you so much, Dr. McCoy." Andrew says as he places a loud kiss on her forehead. She giggles. They stand up and we head back over.

"Good job, Doctor." Leonard says as he high fives Joanna. "And you did a fine job too, Nurse Ollie."

"I do my best." I say as I accept a glass of lemonade from him and take a drink. "But if it weren't for the doctor's quick thinking, he may not have pulled through."

"I owe the two of you my life." Andrew says dramatically and Joanna giggles again. She's already finished her lemonade. I take her glass for her.

"Well Sweetheart, give your daddy a kiss goodbye. They've gotta keep gettin' set up for the big party." Rachel says and her face falls. "We're comin' back, don't worry. You'll get to see him a lot more before he has to go back."

"That's a promise." Leonard says as he crouches down and takes her into his arms and squeezes her tight. "I love you so much." He kisses her forehead.

"I love you too, Daddy." She says and then she comes over to me and gives me a hug. I smile. "Thank you for playin' with me, Miss Ollie."

"It was my pleasure." I say and then she gives Andrew a hug before she and Rachel leave. "Well, now I don't need to jog tonight."

"Yeah, like you need to jog anyway." Andrew says sarcastically. Leonard just shakes his head.

"Silly boy, I don't jog for training. I jog because I enjoy it. Helps me clear my head." I say and then I yawn.

"Why don't you go sit down for a few. Andrew and I can finish the lights." Leonard says and I give him a look. He just shrugs and walks away. I shake my head.

"You win this round, McCoy." I say and then I hold out my hand to take Andrew's empty glass for him.

"You really do look a lot happier than the last time you were here." He says as he hands it over. "I'm glad that Starfleet is helping you."

"Well…" I say as I look over. "Not just Starfleet. I've got some pretty great friends as well."

"And a boooooyfriend." He teases and I roll my eyes before I start walking back towards the house. I head inside and wash the glasses. I dry and put them away and then I lean against the sink, looking out the window that's facing the back yard. I can see them goofing off. Oh, this will definitely be brought up the next time he complains about how annoying Andrew is.

* * *

"So I had a thought yesterday afternoon." Leonard says as he takes a seat next to me on the porch swing, resting his arm along the back like he does. I look up from my tablet. "Also, sittin' like that still can't be good for your back."

"Still ignoring that." I say sweetly. "What thought did you have?" I ask and he looks thoughtful as he starts swinging us.

"Well now I'm tryin' to decide if I wanna be sweet or not." He says and I prepare my withering look, because I know that he's decided on the or not part. "How on Earth are you managing with these biceps bein' out like they are." I go to get up and he pulls me back. I fall into his lap.

"That is not even funny, Leonard McCoy. You know how I get when I'm on pain medicine." I say and he laughs. I scoot back into my original seat. "I should go and tell your mother how mean you're being to me."

"Come on, Darlin', I'm just teasin' ya." He says and I shake my head at him. "The sweet thought was that I love how great you are with Joanna."

"That doesn't make up for your first remark." I let him know firsthand. "But she's a great kid. And that laugh is infectious."

"It is." He agrees and then he starts swinging us again. "I still think she missed you more than she missed me."

"That's impossible." I say and he looks at me. "You say you weren't a dreamboat before, but from what I've seen that doesn't matter to her. You're always doing your best for her and that makes you a wonderful father. Don't sell yourself short." I pat his cheek and he looks confused for a moment. "I'll bet you thought you were going to get a kiss there, didn't you Mr. Biceps?" I get up and head towards the door.

"Hey, that's Dr. Biceps!" He calls after me and I hear Andrew explode into laughter from the living room. "Damn it." He mutters. "You lured me into that one."

"Revenge." I say with a shrug as I open the door and go inside. Andrew wipes a fake tear from his eye.

"I'm just in here, mindin' my own business." He says and then he's laughing again. "You truly are a gift, Olivia."

"Thank you, Andrew." I say with a shake of my head. He gets up and goes outside to give his brother some grief. I go into the dining room where Lucille is working on some plans for the party, she has a serene smile on her face.

"Olivia, would you like to sit and keep me company for a while?" She asks, looking up at me.

"Yes, ma'am. I would love to." I say as I go over and sit down across from her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, Sweetheart, I've got everythin' covered for the most part." She says and then she folds her arms on the table, that same serene smile on her face. "I just wanted to let you know how glad I am that you're in my son's life." She looks misty eyed for a moment. "I accidentally overheard the two of you talkin' and you're absolutely right. He can be so hard on himself and I just appreciate so much how you remind him to be a little more gentle."

"I'm not doing anything special." I say, trying to wave away the gratitude I don't deserve. "I'm just telling him the truth." I feel my own eyes getting a little misty. I look up towards the ceiling and blink. "He is a wonderful man." The mistiness is growing. "He gets on my nerves sometimes, but he is…"

"I can appreciate that." She says as she pats my hand. "He's just like his daddy." That has me smiling. "I still don't understand how a man who annoys me to the brink of insanity still makes me love him more every day."

"It must be some sort of trait gifted to the McCoy men." I say and we laugh together. I look at the time. "Oh, it's almost time for that surprise."

"Good luck." She says as she pats my hand again. I smile before I go upstairs and grab my backpack that has been packed with new things. A couple of blankets, some refreshments, and two flashlights. I head downstairs and out to the front porch where Andrew is still pestering Leonard.

"Hey, come with me." I say and he doesn't hesitate to get up and follow me off the porch away from his brother.

"Where are we goin'?" He asks as he takes in my appearance. "What's in the bag?" I shrug as I keep walking. "Ollie…"

"It's the idea that I forgot about forever ago." I say as I turn to walk backwards so that I can look at him. "So just shut up and follow me. Unless you're chicken." I turn around and start running then.

"Damn it, Ollie!" He laughs as he chases after me. After about ten yards, I stop running and laugh as he catches up. "What is this all about? It's gonna be dark soon."

"You are correct." I say as I keep walking. "Just trust me, it's all going to be okay." I won't tell him that Andrew actually helped me with this set up. "The fun part is that I don't even know exactly where we're going."

"That doesn't bring me as much comfort as you might think it does." He says dryly and I smile sweetly at him.

"Well, in theory I know where we're going. And I may or may not have coordinates." I shrug. "But it could be bad intel and we could end up lost and eaten by wild animals or something. Are coyotes a problem in Georgia too?"

"Olivia…" He says slowly and I smile at him. "Darlin', what are you doin'?" I take his hand.

"Don't worry, there is a plan. We won't get lost. We're not even leaving your family's property." I say and that seems to dull his apprehension. "But I haven't actually seen where we're going. I charted this course for reasons. Just trust me." The sun is starting to dip even lower as we reach a relatively small grouping of trees. You can't see through to the other side. I take out the flashlights and give him one, just in case he feels uncomfortable. He just keeps hold of my hand as I lead the way through the forest, stepping confidently. We reach the other side and there is no light other than the beams of our flashlight. I take a few more steps, check the coordinates and then I set my backpack down. "We're here."

"Okay…and what exactly are we doin' here?" He asks and I smile as I get out a blanket and lay it out.

"Stargazing." I seat myself on the blanket and pat the spot beside me. He sits down and we shut off the flashlights. I take off my sandals and scoot a little closer to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He nods and as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I can see nervousness. "Darlin', aren't you gonna get cold?"

"There's another blanket." I say and then I lay back. He slowly lays back as well and he puts his arm around me. "And besides, you're here too. I don't figure you'll let me get too cold."

"That's true." He says and we lay there quietly. Really I don't think that there could be a better place for this. I glance up and see that his eyes are closed. I begin to trace patterns on his chest through his shirt.

"Just try to relax, you're not actually in space." I joke in a gentle voice. "I'm trying to show you the beauty I see in it. Did I tell you why I wanted to get there?"

"Because there's no place on Earth far enough away to get away from that psycho." He says and I chuckle.

"True. But also because space is infinite. Presumably, it will never be done growing and changing and that's what I've always wanted for myself." I smile as he takes a deep breath.

"When you put it that way." He grumbles and I laugh. "You really can find the good in anything, can't you?"

"I try to." I say with a shrug. "It's like my take on mediating. Ideally there is good in everything, but sometimes there just isn't."

"You're the whole package and then here you are stuck with me." He says with a sigh. I roll and lay across his chest and give him a dirty look.

"There is honestly no place I would rather be right now than here with you." I say and he looks into my eyes for a moment before he kisses me. "And I can't possibly be the whole package, I'm such a pain in the ass." He kisses me again. "I don't think you're listening to me right now."

"No, I'm listenin' to ya." He says as he tucks my hair behind my ear. "So your grand scheme to get me to not be so afraid of space was to bring me out to a meadow and make out with me?"

"You're the one who started kissing me." I say and then I try to roll away, but he doesn't let me. "Leonard."

"Can you blame me? I can hardly kiss ya all I want when my family's around, that would embarrass ya." He says and I smile. "And we can't kiss like this." He demonstrates the sort of kiss he means and it leaves my head spinning.

"That's a dangerous kiss." I say and I see the smirk spread across his face. "Other than your interruption to my lesson plan, is it helping at all?"

"I think that I've gotten to a point where it won't be debilitating." He says as he looks to the stars. "I don't mean specifically right now. You have helped me though, and I do love your lesson plan."

"Good. That's been my scheme all along." I say and he laughs. "I'm proud of you, for all that's worth."

"That's worth a lot." He says honestly. "I know we bicker quite a bit." I raise an eyebrow, curious to where he's going. "But there are quite a few times where I won't tell you that I think you're right, but you are."

"Oh honey, I know." I say as I cup his cheek. I grin at the look he gives me. "I'm sorry for ruining your moment."

"I was just goin' to say, for how concerned you were to start with about not bein' woman enough for me or whatever it was, you sure are one hell of a woman to me." He says and I smile. "One hell of a woman."

"With an incredible ass." I say and he nods along very solemnly. "That you've apparently been staring at a lot."

"We were apart for four days." He says and I laugh. "This is goin' to sound incredibly cheesy and you have my permission to smack me," He clears his throat. "I'm not always starin' at your behind when I'm checkin' you out. Sometimes I just look at you and wonder how in the hell you ended up havin' feelings for me too. You're so far out of my league, it ain't even funny."

"Excuse me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him. "I like to think we're equally attractive and that's a compliment to myself because you're pretty damn handsome."

"If you think you're only as pretty as I am handsome, then you're delusional." He says and I give him a look. He just kisses me again.

"Then we must have space madness." I say and he rolls his eyes. "You're handsome, deal with it." I roll off his chest but stay tucked against his side. In spite of the harsh way I said that, the moment returns to feeling peaceful.

* * *

When Andrew said that this party was going to be bigger than the Christmas party, I didn't exactly think he meant the scale that it has ended up being. I watch the people milling about from one of the thirty-two large, round tables set up around a dance floor with people dancing to a live band. When you think of it as a wedding reception, I guess it makes sense. Maybe it wasn't this big last year? The opening bits of a familiar song starts and I smile when I realize what song it is. I've never found the name of it, but they play it a lot at the jazz club. It kind of makes me sad that we haven't been back since before Christmas. Someone takes my hand and I jump and realize that it's Leonard. He grins at me as he leads me to the dance floor.

"They're playin' our song, Darlin'." He says and I smile as I allow him to spin me before we start dancing. I liked dancing with him before, but now that he isn't trying to not freak me out by having feelings for me, he's a lot less…formal would be the best way to put it. It's definitely a lot more fun and he has more than just the usual slight smile on his face. It makes me incredibly happy that he's so happy right now. Our song ends and a slow song starts to play. He pulls me close and brings the hand he's holding to his lips. I smile and rest my head against his chest.

"Part of me feels like you arranged that." I say and I feel the slight laugh. "How come you never told me you found out what it was called?"

"It was all part of my grand scheme." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "Darlin', I wanted you to come with me. We have lives outside of each other, you don't have to worry about that. I want you here because I want to have these memories with you."

"Now you're trying to make me cry and that's not very nice." I say, letting my forehead rest against his chest now so that if tears do escape, no one sees.

"Oh you know me, I'm Dr. Sensitive. Just lettin' you know how I feel." He says and then he kisses the top of my head. "Unless you want more time away from me."

"I can't say that I do." I say and he rubs my back. "Silly me, I guess I'm still worried about messing up what we've got."

"I'll let it slide this time." He says and I shake my head. "I don't know if I told you, but you look beautiful."

"The slightly agape mouth when I came out here told me all I needed to know." I say as I look up at him with a sassy look on my face. "I told you. Give me fifteen minutes and then you'd see me all dressed up."

"Just when I think I've seen it all. You still manage to surprise me." He says and I smile. "That's good and bad. You surprise me both ways often."

"It's like your mom says, I keep you on your toes." I say and I smile as the song ends. "Now, I'm going to sit down. You're more than welcome to join me."

"I'd be happy to." He says and then he tucks my hand into the crook of his arm as he escorts me back to the table I'd been pulled away from. We have a seat and then his medical school friends sit down.

"Easton, Malachi. It's nice to see you guys again." I say as I greet them with a smile. I can see right away that they're ornery though, as Lucille would say.

"It's always a pleasure, Olivia." Malachi says as he returns my smile but then he looks back to Leonard. "Who are you and what have you done with Leonard McCoy."

"I have seen this man dance publicly one time." Easton says and I look to Leonard with a raised eyebrow.

"That's news to me." I say with a laugh. "In San Francisco, we used to go to this jazz club with our friends on the weekend. We haven't been since December, but…" I look back to Leonard, my eyebrow still raised. He looks incredibly cranky.

"San Francisco was obviously a very good move for you." Malachi says and then he looks at me. "Miss Olivia, can I get you a drink?"

"I'll get her a drink." Leonard says and he stands up. The two men go off. I shake my head.

"So I know you said you'd only ever seen him dance once, but is that really odd?" I ask as I rest my arms on the table.

"I've known him since we were thirteen. I've been to any number of these parties and I promise you I have never seen him look happier than he did before we came over and ruined it." Easton says and I laugh. "It's a good look on him."

"He's grown a lot as a person since I met him, so I can only imagine what it must be like for someone who's known him most of his life." I say as I watch Leonard and Malachi across the way. "You've got to just be saying that to flatter me."

"Normally, I'd say that was a fair assumption of me, but I mean it." He says and I sit back in my seat and cross my legs and hum. This isn't something I'll bring up to him, but it kind of makes my heart feel warm. Malachi and Leonard return and he sets a glass of ginger ale down in front of me. I open my mouth to thank him, but Malachi is looking at me a little too intently.

"Can I help you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in question as I take a drink of the soda. I look at Leonard and thank him with a nod before I look back to Malachi.

"This man says you don't drink. How old are you?" He asks and I feel my expression fall into one of my more sassy looks.

"I'm twenty-three. I don't look like I'm that young, thank you very much." I say and Leonard laughs. "I oughta find your mother and tell her you're asking ladies how old they are."

"Please don't do that." He says and I raise my eyebrows at him like it's a challenge. "Forgive me?"

"We'll see. It depends on how many embarrassing stories you have of Leonard in medical school." I say as I sit forward and rest my chin in my hand.

"Now, we don't need to talk about medical school. It was boring." My boyfriend says as he places a hand on my lower back.

"Oh, intrigue. You sound nervous, Leonard." I say and he gives me a look asking for mercy. "How many times have you asked my brother for stories about ten-year-old Ollie?"

"I feel like that's a little different. We're talkin' my early twenties here." He says but that only serves to make me more curious. "Wouldn't you guys rather hear about how this one can judo flip me?"

"Oh yeah, that sounds way more funny." Easton says and I raise an eyebrow. Is he rescuing him?

"I'm one of hundreds of women who are trained to do that. It's hardly that interesting." I say with a roll of my eyes. "If I had to guess, I'd say there's a specific story you don't want me to hear and now I really want to hear it."

"Not gonna happen." He says stubbornly and I laugh and shake head. "You two are nothin' but trouble."

"Which is probably why early twenties Leonard is pretty funny." I say and he shoots me a look. "You know I'm not good at letting these things drop. Like Mrs. Jenkins?"

"Oh I miss her." Malachi says with a laugh. "She was a good lady. Had the biggest crush on Leo."

"Is it really bringin' a girl home if your buddies don't embarrass ya at least once?" Easton asks and then he looks to me. "I may not tell you that specific story, but I've got plenty that'll do."

"I'll hear embarrassing stories one way or another, Leonard. You sleep sometimes." I say and he just shakes his head. He's not really all that upset. "And Andrew is on my side."

"Devil's advocate." He accuses and I smile sweetly and wink at him. "You're like a siren, lurin' people to do your bidding."

"Oh god no, you don't want me to sing." I say and that brings laughter. "But I do use words very well."

"Have you learned any new interestin' curse words?" Malachi asks and I laugh. "Leo bragged last time about how you could cuss us in more languages than we can count."

"Funny you should say that." I say with a laugh. "I actually have a friend and we study up on profanity in other federation languages so that we don't offend anyone by accident."

"Sure, that's why you do it." Leonard says with a shake of his head. "It is impressive though." I smile and sit back as the conversation continues. It's funny how grown men revert back to thirteen-year-olds when they get together. After a little while, I decide to give them some time without me there, so I get up and gently squeeze Leonard's shoulder as I start to walk away. He puts his hand over mine and looks at me.

"I'll be back." I promise and he brushes his thumb across the back of my hand before he lets me go. I search around for familiar faces and I'm briefly surprised when someone takes my hand and spins me around. "Hello, Andrew." I say as he starts dancing with me.

"I was hopin' to surprise you at least a little bit. How'd you know it was me?" He asks and I try not to look too incredibly amused.

"You're Leonard's younger brother, of course you will have copied his move." I say and he deflates a little bit. "I can assure you that it is very charming for when you do it with not your brother's girlfriend."

"That's fair." He says and then he laughs. "Man, Leonard is not happy with me." I can't help but laugh as well.

"We should really give him a break. I was trying to extract stories of early twenties Leonard from Malachi and Easton a while ago." I say and he shakes his head.

"He wasn't too crazy…that I know of for sure. I was fourteen when the craziest thing happened." He says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "What was fourteen-year-old Olivia like?"

"Quiet. Reserved. Oddly enough, liked to read." I say and then I shake my head and smile. "Puberty hit me like a truck and so mostly I just tried to stay un-noticed. My personality didn't really flourish so much until…the academy. That is when I decided that I don't take shit from people anymore."

"Good." He says sincerely. "So where were you goin' before I ensnared you with my charmin' moves?" I laugh again.

"I didn't have anywhere in mind particularly. He doesn't need me hovering around all the time." I say with a shrug.

"No, but he likes it." He says and I look back over at the table. "Don't be so worried about freakin' him out."

"Yeah, he tells me that too." I say and then I look back at him. "Easton said something and I'm still not sure if he really meant it."

"Knowing Easton, there's a good chance he didn't, but what was it?" He asks and I glance over again.

"He said that this is the happiest he's ever seen Leonard." I say and then I smile as Leonard laughs at something.

"He meant it." He says and I look back at him. "I don't know what he's told ya about the divorce…"

"He said he married her for the wrong reasons." I say and he nods. "So what are you trying to say with that?"

"I don't know…I don't want to freak you out." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "You sure?" I shrug. "Well, if my brother were ever to get married again…"

"I love Leonard." I say sincerely. "But we've only been dating for eight months. That seems a little soon to pass judgement like that. Not to mention all of the baggage I have."

"So if you didn't have baggage, you'd wanna marry him right now?" He asks and I open my mouth to say no, but that actually makes me think. "Wow, I didn't think it was possible to win a discussion with you."

"You." I say and I almost sound just like Leonard. He just sort of laughs. "I'm going to get something to drink."

"Don't get lost." He drawls and I go over and retrieve some water before I find a place to hide in plain sight. That little shit... I may love Leonard, but it has to be way too soon to have feelings like that. Then again, the way he was talking about wanting to have these memories with me. The way he told me he loves how good I am with his daughter.

"Olivia, sweetheart, are you alright?" Lucille asks, pulling me out of my thoughts. I look up at her and smile brightly.

"I am. I think I just got a little too warm." I say and then I finish my water. "I think I'm going to go and sit inside for a little bit."

"Alright, please let me know if you need anythin' at all." She says as she briefly cups my cheek before she goes off to keep hosting and enjoying her party. I stand up and head for the house. I go up to my room and sit on the bed. I don't really have any other relationships to compare this to. Then again, are feelings really something that you should gauge by what other people have done? Going by length of time together, that should have meant that Marcus was meant to be my forever, but that's certainly not the case. I don't want to mess this up because it really doesn't seem like it could get any better than this.

"Darlin'?" Leonard knocks on the door before he opens it. He looks concerned and he has a bottle of water in hand. "Are you alright?" He comes over and feels my forehead.

"I'm fine." I say as I take his hand so that he'll stop checking on me. "I just got a little overheated, so I was cooling off."

"That's not your coolin' off face, that's your over-thinkin' face." He says as he takes a seat beside me. "What's on your mind?"

"Something dumb that Andrew said." I say with a sigh and he puts his arm around me. I lean my head on his shoulder. "I'm afraid to tell you what it is."

"Darlin', never be afraid to tell me anything." He says, tilting my face up so that he can look me in the eye. "What'd he say?"

"You're not allowed to get angry with him." I say and then I think about it. "Or Easton." That has him skeptical. "Well…Easton said that you look the happiest that he's ever seen you. I didn't believe it, so I thought I would fact check with Andrew and…he confirmed. I don't think he would lie about that. Not to me." I can't look him in the eye. "And then,"

"And then?" He asks, surprised that that isn't all apparently. "Go on Darlin', everything is fine."

"And then…he said something like if you were to ever get married again and then I said that I loved you, but we've only been dating eight months and all my baggage. Then he asked if I didn't have my baggage would I want to marry you now and…" I settle on looking at the floor. "I didn't know what to say. So then he said something about not realizing it was possible to win a discussion with me." I shake my head. "But really it's ridiculous. I mean we've been dating eight months."

"Is it ridiculous?" He asks and I look at him, he holds up a hand in surrender. "Devil's advocate. What are you feelin', Darlin'?"

"That I don't believe it actually gets any better than this." I say and he smiles before he kisses me.

"Then I think we stand in just about the same place." He says and that brings tears to my eyes. "Not that we have to be in any sort of rush, we still have time to decide that we're sick of each other." I laugh and he brushes a tear away. "Marcus is still a problem since he keeps showin' up, but we'll get it sorted out." I sigh and he kisses me again. "That idiot Easton is right though. I am the happiest I think I've ever been."

"I think he was assigning full credit, but I definitely don't believe that. Partial credit." I say and then he smirks at me.

"If you sweet talk me, you might be able to convince me to give ya full credit." He says and I playfully smack his arm.

"Leonard McCoy, we are in your parents' home." I say and he shrugs. I roll my eyes and stand up, he pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me and rests his head against my stomach. It is at that time that it decides to growl and I crack up.

"Typical." He says and then he stands up and guides me back outside to get something to eat.

* * *

As I make my way down the stairs, I hear shouting on the front porch and I'm immediately tense. I hear Leonard's voice and then Rachel's. Oh. I very quietly make my way the rest of the way down and then sneak out the back way. I stretch out a bit before I start my jog, electing to find a different route so that I don't have to feel weird. Leonard might be upset by the argument though…He's obviously upset since he's arguing, but…I don't know. Maybe I should cut this jog shorter than I normally would. If he doesn't want to talk about it, I can always go back to my room and do some yoga. I cut across a grassy field and make my way to the main road. This will make it a decent jog back at least. After a few moments, Rachel's car speeds past me. At least I know she's gone. I pick up the pace and before long I reach the long driveway. I reach the house and slow a walk with my hands behind my head to help regulate my breathing. It got really hot, really fast. Leonard is sitting on the porch swing and I see the bad mood written all over his face.

"Good morning." I greet him with a smile as I climb the steps, I'm definitely going to go and do some yoga. Give him some time to cool down.

"Hey Ollie?" He asks and I turn to face him, one hand on the door. "Do you mind sittin' down for a minute?"

"Not at all." I say as I go over and take a seat beside him. "Are you okay?" I'm playing dumb. For all he knows I was gone before they started arguing. His arm settles along the back of the swing and he sighs.

"Not really." He says and I place a reassuring hand on his leg. "I imagine you probably heard, but the harpy and I got into it."

"You did? I was obviously just on a jog." I say and he side eyes me. "What could you possibly have to say?"

"Half an hour ago you were asleep." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "I fell asleep in there with you."

"I was jogging." I maintain as I pull my knees to my chest. "Do you want to talk about it?" I look up at him.

"She's mad because apparently I went off and became the man she always wanted me to be." He says with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever that means."

"You're a dreamboat." I say with a wink and that brings a small smile to his face. "Is that all?"

"Well…she kissed me." He says and then he looks at me. "I'm sorry I didn't realize what she was doin'."

"Did you enjoy it?" I ask and he furrows his eyebrows and looks at me in question. "If you didn't enjoy her kissing you, then that's not something that I need to worry about." I smile then. "But thank you for apologizing."

"Part of me thinks she was tryin' to ruin us." He says and I see that agitation spark back into his eyes.

"Did it work?" I ask sarcastically. "Because I don't feel like we're ruined, but I can't read your mind."

"Well obviously it didn't work." He mutters and I smile at him. "I guess she didn't count on you bein' so amazing."

"It's not so much that I'm amazing. I just know that you would never do anything to intentionally hurt me." I say and he leans in and kisses me, reminding me very much of our first kiss. "This beats yoga. I was going to run away to let you cool down before I talked to you about it."

"I thought you were joggin'. How would you have known if I needed time to cool down or not?" He asks, sounding like he's got me.

"I saw that you looked pretty upset when I was coming up the drive." I say and he grabs my side. I jump and nearly fall off the swing, but he holds onto me. "Okay, so I may have heard the two of you shouting when I came down the stairs. So I may have gone out the back way to jog a different way, but then I might have gotten worried, so I cut my jog short."

"You're too good to me." He says and I roll my eyes. "You put up with my grumpy ass all the time."

"You're not grumpy all the time." I shake my head. "You just have resting grumpy face…and you get worked up pretty easily." I pat his leg then. "I'm going to get ready for the day." I stand up and head inside, he's following.

"Darlin'?" He asks and I turn to see what he wants. He takes me in his arms and gives me another head spinning kiss. "That's better."

"You've got to stop kissing me like that in common places." I say and he gets that 'ornery' look. I shake my head before I go upstairs. I take a shower and dress in some jean shorts and my favorite Starfleet tee shirt before I got back to my room and sit down on my bed and start reading over pharmacology again.

"Hey Darlin'?" Leonard asks as he comes to the door, I look up at him. "Everyone's waitin' on ya for breakfast."

"Oh, you guys go ahead. I'm not very hungry." I say and he regards me dryly for a second before he walks over and hoists me over his shoulder. "Leonard McCoy! You put me down this instant!" He ignores my struggles as he carries me down the stairs. "You can't carry me around like a sack of potatoes anytime you want!" He sets me down in the living room and I stand there, fuming. He winks at me before he heads into the dining room. I take a moment to compose myself before I join then. Andrew and Thomas are both trying to keep a straight face, Lucille is regarding her oldest son with an unimpressed expression. So that's where he gets it from. "You absolute gorilla."

"I'm not sure if that's a promotion or not, I used to just be an absolute toad." Leonard says and that has Andrew laughing.

"So I take it that's not the first time that's happened?" Thomas asks, digging into his pancakes.

"That was the fourth, and last time." I say, implying the warning on my tone. He simply looks amused.

"Leonard." Lucille says and he has the decency to look a tiny bit apologetic. "I did not raise you to man-handle women."

"The first time it happened, I was in charge of takin' her to get ready for her surprise birthday dinner and she wouldn't budge." He says and I shake my head. "That's when I became an 'absolute toad'."

"That's when I found out what a sweetheart you truly are. Taking advantage of your position as my attending physician and telling our friends my birthday. Then trying to make it seem like you didn't do it." I say and that brings a smile to Lucille's face. "He still hasn't told me when his is."

"It's September twenty-eighth." Andrew says without missing a beat and Leonard shoots him a look. I smile, satisfied with this outcome.

"Thank you, Andrew." I say and then I pour some syrup on my pancakes and take a bite. "Prepare for revenge, Leonard."

"Alright, Darlin'." He says and I shoot him a look. "I'm sorry for carryin' you like a sack of potatoes."

"I'm sure you are." I say and Lucille finds this funny. I won't actually plan anything crazy, but he doesn't know that. Just the idea of what I could do should be revenge enough for me.

"I taught you boys manners for two reasons." Lucille says after she takes a drink of coffee. "One, because a good man knows how to treat a lady. Two, because I knew you'd find women who would know exactly what to do with your ornery butts."

"Still holdin' out hope, Momma?" Andrew asks and she shakes her head at her son. "I'm gettin' old." Leonard rolls his eyes.

"We're the same age. If you say you're getting old, what's that say about me?" I ask and he holds up a finger. He swallows.

"My birthday's in May, I'm older than you by six months." He says and I shake my head. "You also don't look like you're twenty-three."

"I'll choose to receive that as a compliment." I say graciously. "But you've got something on your side, Andrew. Some women are really into the whole salt and pepper thing." I say it so casually, but he jumps up and checks his reflection in the mirror. Leonard laughs out loud at that one.

"Don't feel bad. She got me a can of Rogaine for Christmas." He says and Thomas shakes his head, but he's laughing too.

"Sometimes you have to knock people back down to size." I say with a shrug. "I feel like I've given the both of you an equal amount of hard time this visit."

"You've been pretty tame." Leonard says and I shrug. "I think I love you even more for sayin' that though." I shake my head. The rest of breakfast is fairly uneventful. I am unsuccessful in getting Lucille to let me help with dishes since today is our last day in Georgia. In the morning, we return to San Francisco.


	9. We Can Make It Work

_Hey everyone! As I predicted, school has started to slow down my inspiration. I'm going to get in some writing when I can because of "me time" and whatnot, but there probably won't be another week of updates for a while. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy chapter 9 of Spirit of a Fighter!_

* * *

I reach my turn around point and begin jogging back towards the gym when someone grabs my hair and pulls me back. Both of my hands go to theirs and I briefly panic before I remember my training. I wrench myself out of their hold and I turn around to see Marcus coming towards me again.

"Niki, I let you have your little adventure! It is time to come home now!" He shouts as he reaches out to grab my arm. "You look like a god damn dyke, you should be embarrassed!"

"I am home, Marcus." I say as I duck out of the way. "You need to leave. I don't know why you think I still love you, because I don't. I haven't for a very long time, longer than I've even been here." He stops. "You need to let me go and move on with your life. Didn't you used to want to be an architect? Go to school, Marcus. Get out of that town."

"There's nothing wrong with that town!" He shouts and then he's trying to grab hold of me again. I feel my back touch the wall and I go to side step, but he grabs my shoulder. I try to break his hold and he slaps me across my face.

"This is your final warning. Take your hands off of me." I say firmly and he pulls back to punch me. I duck and punch him as hard as I can in the solar plexus. It sends him stumbling back. I stay on him and kick him in his side, which he definitely wasn't expecting. I grab his arm and twist it while I kick the back of his knee. He falls, but grabs me and slams me into the ground. Black specks dance across my vision. I try to scramble away, but he grabs my ankle and pulls me back to him. He lifts me up by the shoulders and slams my head against the ground again. He's trying to knock me out. A punch lands on my temple. I try to get him off of me, but he has my legs pinned. I try to pull his hands away from my neck as he goes for it, but he overpowers me and I can't breathe. I release his hands and reach out to either side to try and find something to help me. My hand closes around a rock. I bring it up and slam it against his face and he falls over and I scramble backwards and stand up. The world spins. I see two people running towards me, I've got to hold on. I stumble into the wall and dread fills the pit of my stomach as I see that Marcus is getting back up. "No more!" I scream and he stops his angry trek to me. His eyes soften and he walks forward, arms held out as if he's going to hug me. This is the only chance I'm going to get. As he gets close enough I bring the palm of my hand into his nose and I shove him back. The force causes me to fall back and I hit my head again and that causes me to fall. I brace my back against the wall to try and stand, but I can't. That's when I see a tall figure walk up and calmly take him down. Faint words reach my ears, then someone takes my face.

"Olivia, can you understand me?" Uhura asks and I have to blink a few times before I can focus on her eyes.

"Yes." I say and she looks over her shoulder. I'm breathing hard. "Shit." I close my eyes. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Just try to focus on staying awake." She says as she looks back at me. I see two security personnel run up, then the tall figure comes closer and I see that it's Commander Spock. Uhura looks away for a moment and when I look at her, I see a lot of emotion in her eyes, but she isn't giving into it. Neither will I.

"Help me up." I say and I try to brace myself against the wall again. I am going to walk away from this.

"Cadet Gray, it would be unwise for you to attempt to walk in this condition." Commander Spock says as he crouches down beside us. "I will take you to the clinic for treatment." He carefully scoops me up off of the ground. Uhura stays with me. "Do you know who your attacker was?"

"Yes, sir. He is my ex-fiancé." I say and Uhura looks away again. This time I see the tear in her eye. "I apologize for the disturbance."

"That does not matter. He will be dealt with." He says, his jaw is set. I think this is the closest I've ever seen to emotion from him. The three of us enter the clinic and Dr. Lee looks up before he stands up.

"I'll call her attending." He says immediately as he goes to do just that. I close my eyes. I'd been hoping that maybe I could convince him not to. Commander Spock sets me down on one of the chairs and Uhura sits down beside me.

"Cadet Uhura, please stay with Cadet Gray." He says and then he looks at me. "I am going to see to the apprehension of that man. May I have his name?"

"Yes, sir. His name is Marcus Beauchamp." I say and he nods once before he stands. "Wait, sir." He pauses. "I know that it's not necessarily protocol, but instead of speaking with Security, may I submit a detailed report?" I ask, looking up at him. I feel my eyes squint slightly at the light.

"I will see what I can do and I will update you when I have an answer." He says and that makes me feel a little better at least. "Is that all?"

"Yes, sir." I say and he nods once before he turns and leaves the clinic. I take a deep breath.

"McCoy is on his way." Dr. Lee says as he comes over with a compress. I take it from him and hold it to my head.

"Gray…I…" Uhura starts and then she stops. I see her swallow hard. "I know we're not supposed to get into this stuff..."

"Yeah." I say, feeling my own tears starting to well up. "We're not. I don't want you to worry about it."

"Olivia." She says and I look at her. Dr. Lee steps away to give us some space. "That guy used to hurt you like that every day."

"Yeah." I say and she closes her eyes. "Every day." I whisper. Leonard runs into the clinic breathless. He doesn't say anything as he helps me stand and takes me into an examination room. He lifts me onto the bed before he washes his hands and comes over to me. "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count?"

"Darlin'." He says with a sigh. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up." He begins checking me over. "That's one hell of a concussion."

"I could've told you that." I say and then I close my eyes. "It would have gone differently if I hadn't let myself get backed into a wall."

"That doesn't matter now." He says and then he injects me, knowing I prefer not to know when it's coming. "That should start to help."

"You're the best." I say with a weak smile. "I'm sorry." Tears are starting to flow down my cheeks now. "I feel so pathetic right now."

"Darlin', you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for." He says, gently cupping my cheek before he starts cleaning up my wounds. "And you should not feel pathetic. I know for a fact you fought like hell."

"I did." I say and then I ball my hands into fists. "But it wasn't good enough. I can't be a mediator."

"Olivia, stop." He says gently. "Do I need to remind you of your simulation again?" I shake my head.

"If I didn't have the others to back me up…" I start and he puts his finger to my lips. I open my eyes and look at him.

"You had your crewmates." He says and then he goes back to cleaning the cut on my forehead. "Who brought you in? She may be tough, but Uhura couldn't carry ya here."

"Commander Spock." I say and he nods. "I feel like you're trying to make a point, but I'm very confused right now."

"My point is that your crew was there for you." He says and then he hops up on the bed beside me to take a good look at the back of my head. "I'm pleasantly surprised, no blood back here."

"Good. Washing blood out of my hair is the worst." I say and he very gently kisses the top of my head. "Is that regulation?"

"Does this look like the face of a man who cares if it's regulation or not?" He asks and I look at him. "There's a time for our professional distance, but I can't bring myself to do that right now." He looks me over before he slides off the bed and goes over to a cabinet. "There was somethin' new in here…It's supposed to help with bruising." He goes through a few things before he finds what he's looking for. He comes over and applies a small amount to my neck. "I know you hate walkin' around like that."

"I'm fine with my face being messed up, but the neck…" I sigh. "It's such…a control thing, I guess. These bruises feel like some sort of chain to my ghost." I frown. "He said something to me and I can't remember what it was."

"It'll probably come back to you, just be patient with yourself." He says and then he gently tilts my face up and presses a gentle kiss to my lips. "What do you need right now, Darlin'?"

"I need my friends and my super hunky doctor boyfriend." I say, smiling a little bit. The smile that brings to his face makes me feel a lot better. "I love you, Leonard."

"And I love you too, Darlin'." He says and then he presses another gentle kiss to my lips. "I'm gonna go and grab somethin' less potent than I've got in here for the pain. I know how much you don't like Honest Ollie."

"Can you have Uhura come sit with me?" I ask and he nods before he goes. Almost as soon as he's out the door, she's there. I pat the spot beside me on the bed and she comes over and sits down. "Why is everyone I know so much taller than me?" She shakes her head. "I know I don't have to thank you…but anyway, thank you for having my back."

"You and I are going to be for real crewmates in a few years." She says confidently. "So it's better if we build that comradery now." She looks down at her boots. "I don't know if our amended arrangement is going to work out anymore. I want to know more so that I can help keep this from happening again."

"I don't even know how to keep it from happening." I say with a sigh. "He always used to tell me that I made him do this to me and I used to believe it to an extent. I was his perfect trophy. He's never actually loved me. I can't begin to tell you how many times he cheated on me while we were together." I shake my head. "So other than he can't control me anymore, I don't know why he won't let me go."

"I think sometimes that's all people need to hang onto." She says and I sigh. "He won't get away with this though."

"Here's hoping." I say and then Leonard comes back. I feel the grimace fall over my expression and he rolls his eyes as he comes over and injects me. "You better not have brought Honest Ollie out."

"We'll see. I need to document your different reactions to this stuff. You're a medical marvel." He says and that makes Uhura laugh.

"Honest Ollie, huh? That might be something worth sticking around for." She says and I shake my head.

"It's awful and embarrassing. All I do is flirt with this guy when he's around. Then anyone else, I just say exactly what comes to mind." I say and she laughs.

"I guess I can't imagine you flirting." She says and Leonard makes a face over where he's tidying up.

"She's said some pretty interesting stuff under the influence of pain medication." He says and I shoot him a look. "Dr. Hunky is my favorite is all I'm gonna say."

"Yeah? At least I didn't refer to myself as Dr. Biceps." I say and then I narrow my eyes at him. "That felt like an Honest Ollie thing."

"The more I'm hearing, the more I'm starting to think maybe Juarez isn't crazy." Uhura says and I laugh.

"It is not like that at all, well there wa-" I start and then I stop myself. Leonard is trying to contain his laughter. "You."

"I told you I would try." He says and Uhura has an incredibly amused look on her face. "There is absolutely no weird doctor stuff. We have professional boundaries."

"I believe you." She says and then she looks to me. "Are you going to be okay?" I look at my hands.

"Yeah. It's like you said, we've already invested a lot of comradery in each other for when we're on the Enterprise, so I can't not be." I say and she smiles.

"I like that confidence." She says and then she slides off the bed. "If you need anything, you call me. Okay?"

"I will." I promise and she smiles before she leaves. "She is totally breaking our arrangement."

"You're not really the no strings attached sort anyway." He says as he walks over to me. "Is Sullivan out of class?" I look at the time.

"Thursdays are her late days." I say and he nods. "Do we have to tell them?" He gives me a look. "I just don't want to have to see the looks on their faces."

"I'll tell 'em then. And I'll tell them that you'll talk to them about it when and if you're ready." He says and then he helps me down off the bed. "Let's get you back to your room." I just wrap my arms around him. He doesn't hesitate to return my hug.

"You make me feel safe." I say softly. "Were you planning on staying with me? Or do I need to flatter you?"

"I was plannin' on stayin'. I'm a little concerned about the concussion." He says and I nod.

"Alright, let's blow this joint." I say and then I shake my head at myself. I absolutely hate pain medication.

"Alright, Darlin'." He chuckles before he leads the way out. Dr. Lee looks at me and I offer him a smile. "As funny as she is, I'm takin' Honest Ollie back to her room. Thanks for callin' me."

"Anytime." He says and then he looks to me. "Take care of yourself, Olivia." I put my hand over my heart.

"I try." I say and then Leonard shakes his head and leads me out of the clinic. I feel more tense as we leave the building. He was down for the count when Commander Spock took me away, but he does have a habit of popping up when I least expect it. I take Leonard's arm.

"I'm not gonna let anything else happen to ya." He says and I lean my head on his arm. "How's that headache?"

"It's not great." I admit. "And the light is evil." I see his jaw tense and I sigh. "I'm sorry, Leonard."

"Olivia," He starts gently, "you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. This is not your fault. I'll say it again, this is not your fault."

* * *

I wouldn't necessarily say that I've been avoiding Jim. I may be avoiding places where I know he typically spends his time, but not specifically he himself. It's not that I don't want to see him, because he is one of my best friends. I just wanted to heal a little bit more before I talk to him.

"Hey." Troian says as she walks up and sets her bag down. "I've got some news from my dad."

"What's up?" I ask as I slide my tablet away so that she knows she has my full attention. She settles in for our study date.

"The charges stuck. Stalking and aggravated assault. He's been sentenced three years in prison. Your lawyer argued for more, but they plead down to three." She says and I feel light headed. "That must have been one hell of a report." I sit back in my seat. She smiles and reaches across the table to put a hand over mine. "Now you can stop avoiding Jim."

"I haven't been avoiding him." I say, putting emphasis on him. "You know I've been busy with my classes."

"You have, but you've still been avoiding him and it's turning him into Squirrely Jim." She says and I shake my head. "He told me that he was supposed to be jogging with you that day."

"But then something came up that he had to do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that." I say and she sighs.

"You're right, but he's thinking that if he hadn't been such a good cadet, this wouldn't have happened." She says and I shake my head.

"But it's kind of good that it happened, yeah? I mean I get three whole years of him sitting in prison." I say and she shakes her head.

"I guess. I'd still rather you not have had to deal with it at all." She says and I let out a breath.

"Yeah, well, I've got three years to build a new game plan." I slide my tablet back in front of me. We study quietly for a while before I lose my focus. If Squirrely Jim is making an appearance, I should really go and see him. "I need to go and see Jim."

"Yes, you do. He's been driving me nuts." She says with almost a fond smile. "I'll see you later." I pack up my bag and head off to strategically place myself in a place where I know he'll pass by. This leaves me sitting on the low wall along the path leading to the mess hall. He's got an hour break in his schedule right now and he just got out of class.

"Ollie-pop?" He asks, almost like he's not sure if it's me. I look up at him and smile. He walks over and I stand up as he pulls me into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Jim." I return his hug, reassuring him. "I've got good news. The charges stuck, he's going to prison for three years."

"That's great news!" He says and then he lets go of me. "Like really great news. That gives us three years of uninterrupted planning to get him to leave you the hell alone."

"Exactly." I say with a smile. "Now let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." He smiles and I pick up my bag before we head to the mess hall. We grab trays and sit down. "So…I need some advice."

"You know I'm always willing to give you advice, Ollie." He says and then he raises an eyebrow. "Is it…uh, sexual advice?"

"No." I say blandly. "Leonard's birthday is coming up and I don't want to do anything big, but I would like to plan a little something for him." I say and he sits back and looks thoughtful. "It's the twenty-eighth." He looks at a calendar on his tablet before he snaps.

"Okay. I've got it. Romantic candlelit dinner for two." He says and I regard him dubiously.

"Jim, I said I needed help coming up with an idea. Any asshole could do that." I say and he looks amused. "In Georgia, I planned this amazing date. There was a great place on his family's property for stargazing, so I didn't tell him where we were going and I just dragged him there."

"Aw, Ollie, that's so cute!" He exclaims and I shake my head at him. "He doesn't tell me these kinds of things. It's no fun."

"Focus, Jim." I say and he laughs. "I just want to make sure it's not something dumb that he'll hate."

"I don't think you need to worry about that. He likes spending time with you, so maybe try to find a way to make something you guys normally do together a little more special. It's low key, but worthy of birthday plans."

"Make it a little more special, huh?" I say and then I hum. "It's something to go off of anyway. Thanks, Jim." I smile.

"Anytime." He says and then he looks around before he leans in. "But something you can't go wrong with is some good ol' fashioned birthday canoodling."

"Canoodling, Jim? Seriously?" I ask and he shrugs. "I swear, sometimes you're the worst."

"You love me." He laughs and I roll my eyes. "I've missed you the past week. Don't avoid me anymore."

"I wasn't avoiding you." I say and he gives me a long look. "I just didn't want to talk about it and I know how you and Tro get. If I'd had it my way, I never would have told you."

"And how would you have explained the injuries?" He asks and I shrug. "Ollie, we're best friends. We can tell each other things even if it's uncomfortable. For example, it might be uncomfortable for you, but you know a lot about my sex life."

"I don't think that's quite the same if half of the party is uninterested." I say with a bit of a laugh. "It's not that I don't want to tell you the things, I just literally did not want to talk about it at all. I wrote my report and that was cathartic enough for me to get it out of my system. I just want to move on."

"Alright, we're moving on then." He says and I smile. "How are you doing? I feel like I haven't seen you in a week."

"I'm doing well." I say, thinly veiling my amusement. "I had a test on Wednesday in my pharmacology class that I absolutely destroyed."

"All that pre-semester studying really paid off after all." He says, looking impressed. "You won't be surprised to know that I've crushed all of my tests as well."

"Of course, Mr. Natural Talent." I say and he winks at me. "So I was thinking. Why don't we get back to the jazz club? We haven't been since December."

"I think that's a great idea." He grins. "I think it's the first time you've actually suggested it too. Man, I'm the best gift giver."

"And you're humble too." I say and he laughs. "We didn't get to see a whole lot of each other last semester and I'll reluctantly admit that I missed you."

"All you had to do was say something. I can always make time for my Ollie-pop." He says and I smile. "Seriously though, I don't want you to think you're not important."

"It's always nice to see your sensitive side, Jim." I say and he shrugs. I finish the last of my applesauce. "Alright, I have to get to class. I'll see you later."

"You better." He says with a serious expression. Is here really afraid that I'm going to start avoiding him again?

"We'll see." I wink at him as I stand up and get rid of my tray. I head for the medical building. I'm reading a message on my tablet when I bump into someone. "Oh, I am so sorry!" I exclaim and then I look up to see that it's Leonard. "Hey." I smile.

"I said your name twice." He says, clearly amused. I stand up on my toes and kiss his cheek.

"I was reading a message from Uhura." I say and then I look at the time. Still plenty of time to get to class. "Walk me to class?"

"Darlin', it'd be my pleasure." He says and I smile as I take his arm as we start walking. "Jim said you finally stopped avoidin' him."

"It was time. You've got a big test coming up, I can't force you to live with Squirrely Jim." I say and he smiles. "And was he really that excited that he messaged you in the five minutes it took me to walk over here?"

"I appreciate your sacrifice." He says and I laugh. "He also told me that you asked him out on a date."

"I said that we should all go to the jazz club soon." I roll my eyes. "Our dance at your parents' party made me miss it."

"I was thinkin' the same thing." He says and that brings a smile to my face. I remember Tro's news then.

"It will be a great celebration." I look up at him and he raises an eyebrow. "The charges stuck and Marcus is going to prison for three years."

"Well…it's a start at least." He says and we stop in front of my classroom. I hug him, resting my head against his chest.

"It's three years to figure out what to do about him." I say and he kisses the top of my head. "Meet me at the gym at five. I've taken enough of a break."

"Alright, but we're takin' it easy." He says and I smirk at him before I go into class. Juarez waves me over to the seat he'd saved me. I sit down.

"So…I have something I need to ask you." He says and I raise an eyebrow at him as I set my bag down. "Uh…well…I don't know why I feel so weird about this. I'm Mateo Juarez." He's trying to get his confidence back.

"You know you can ask me anything, Juarez." I say and he looks up at the ceiling, he's embarrassed.

"Josh is your brother and so I want to make sure that you don't mind if I ask him out." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "That's it."

"Not at all. I'm not Josh's keeper, but I know you're a great guy and you wouldn't do anything stupid." I say and he grins.

"You're the best." He says and I smile. "It's not going to put our friendship at risk?" I put my hand over his.

"Mateo, I'm still getting to know my brother too." I say, trying to reassure him. "If you're scared, maybe we could even double."

"Maybe. I'll get back to you on that." He says and then we turn our attention to our instructor.

* * *

"Ollie!" Someone shouts and my head whips in that direction. I see the familiar face of my younger cousin running up.

"Boog!" I exclaim as I turn. He runs into me and picks me up in a hug. I laugh. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here!?"

"Well, last year I went to see Aunt Elaine and she told me what you did and I thought that sounded like a good idea. So I packed up my wife and my baby and I came to join Starfleet too! I figured I'd run into you at one point." He says as he sets me down. "But before you get into the habit again, is there any chance I can get you to call me Jasper instead of Boog?"

"Boy, you puked on me and I caught more colds from you more times than I can count." I say, putting a hand on my hip. "You're Boog until I draw my last breath. In formal settings though, I'll refer to you as Wayne if that makes you feel better."

"A little." He says and then he looks behind me. "Who's this guy?" I'd almost forgotten that Leonard was there.

"Jasper Wayne, meet Leonard McCoy, my boyfriend." I say and Leonard shakes his hands. "He's my younger cousin. Hold on a second, you have a baby?! When do I get to meet this little Sweet Potato?"

"You know what's funny? That's actually what I call her." Jasper says with a grin. "Her name is Lydia and if you want, you guys can come for dinner tonight. Abby is an amazing chef."

"Oh, I love that." I say and then I feel a little emotional, but I hold it back. "I'm so happy to see you." I hug him again.

"I'm proud of you, Ol." He says seriously. "The last time I saw you, it wasn't good. But look at you now. You're strong."

"Is that a nice way of calling me fat?" I ask and he laughs. I look up to Leonard. "I'm definitely in for dinner, do you want to come?"

"I'd be happy to, it's always nice to meet some of Olivia's sane family members." He says and I smile.

"Josh is here too. He got everything sorted out and he's doing great." I shake my head. "What are you majoring in?" I'm kind of overwhelmed and it's preventing me from focusing.

"Xenolinguistics." He says and I grin. "You got me curious with those classes you were taking in college."

"I think it will suit you, and if you need any help, you know you can come to me. I actually have a study group with a couple of other friends. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you picked their brains as well." I say and he smiles.

"Excellent. Well, I just wanted to say hey. I need to get going to class. It was nice to meet you, Leonard. I'll shoot you guys a message with our apartment number and I'll see you tonight at six." He says and then he's running off the opposite direction.

"I can't believe he's married with a kid. He's only nineteen." I say and then I shake my head. "I'll bet you have questions."

"I'm going to assume he's from your mom's side of the family." He says and I grin at him. "They seem like decent people, how in the world?"

"Abusive relationships. The abuser isolates you." I sigh. "My father didn't push my Aunt Elizabeth out until I was sixteen. The only reason I stayed pretty tight with Jasper is because Marcus would sneak us out to see them whenever we could."

"Well, I'm glad that he's here now." He says and I smile. "My other question is why Boog?"

"As a boy, his nose was constantly running and so I just started calling him that." I say fondly. "I always loved going to visit my aunt after he was born."

"That's a sweet story. I'm just tryin' to picture five-year-old you holdin' a baby that was probably as big as you were." He says and I laugh.

"Always. I've always loved babies. Their little fingers melt my heart." I smile thinking about it. "And I get to hold a baby tonight. I'm so excited."

"I'm glad." He says and then we reach our residence hall. "I'll get cleaned up and then come over if that's alright."

"It's always alright." I say with a smile and then I head into Tro and I's room. I head to my bedroom and dress in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. The door pings and I press the button to open it from my room. Leonard pokes his head in as I'm fixing my hair and I turn around and smile at him.

"This is the biggest smile you've had in a month." He says and I go over and hug him. "You alright?"

"Yeah…it just kind of makes me nervous. I'm gaining a lot to lose." I say and he holds me a little tighter. "But Marcus is in prison and I've got time to figure it out."

"You've got time." He says and then he grins at me. "Those jeans should be illegal." I give him a look.

"You think any jeans on me should be illegal. I don't think it's the pants that are the problem." I say as I walk past him and grab my tablet. I have a message from Jasper with his apartment number. "Thanks for going with me tonight."

"Darlin', you don't gotta thank me." He says and I smile as we go into the living room and sit down. "We're makin' memories."

"Yes. We are." I agree, wrapping my arms around him and laying my head against his chest. "Tro's going to be gone tonight for that weekend leadership retreat. Do you want to stay over?"

"I'd like that." He tucks my hair behind my ear before he lifts my chin to kiss me. "We can make some more memories."

"We'll see." I say with a shrug. "So Juarez asked for my blessing to ask Josh out on Wednesday. They're going to dinner tonight."

"For your blessing?" He asks, amused. "I'm not surprised, they seem like they compliment each other pretty well."

"Well, I am a lot like Josh, and he said that if he were attracted to women, he'd be attracted to me, so I think it makes a lot of sense." I say and then I shake my head. "I have weird friends."

"You do have weird friends." He agrees and I narrow my eyes at him. "You attract some weirdos."

"Yeah, you should see my boyfriend. A real big weirdo." I say as I let go of him. Then he starts tickling me. He receives a knee to the chin by accident. "I cannot be held accountable for injuries sustained while you're trying to torture me."

"Torture you?" He asks dubiously. "I'm sorry for mistreatin' ya so much." He rolls his eyes. I stick my tongue out at him before I check the time.

"Alright, we should go." I say as I stand up. "I don't think you understand how excited I am to hold this baby."

"I get the feelin' you're pretty excited." He says following me as I lead the way out of the room. We take the lift down and then walk to the slightly off-campus residencies for those cadets with families. We take the lift up to the sixth floor and then find ourselves standing in front of apartment six-oh-two. Leonard rings the bell and Jasper answers.

"Hey guys! Come on in!" He exclaims as he steps back. Leonard and I go inside. "Abby, this is my cousin Olivia and her boyfriend Leonard."

"It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you!" Abby exclaims as she walks over and gives me a hug.

"I wish I could say the same, but it's been a really weird few years for me." I say as I return the hug.

"I get it and don't worry about it at all." She says and then she lets go of me. "Excuse me, I need to go finish up dinner." She goes back to the kitchen area. Jasper walks over to a bassinet and he lifts out his daughter.

"And this little angel is our Lydia." He says as he brings her over to me. "Lydi, this is your Auntie Ollie."

"Hello, Lydia." I say, accepting her from my cousin. Her smile is so bright and her eyes are so green. "Oh Jazz, she's perfect." He looks surprised, but he doesn't say anything.

"Thanks, we think we'll keep her." He says and then he gestures to a couch. "Please, have a seat." I lead the way over and sit down. I quickly gather that she likes facing outward, so I turn her around and she looks up at me. "So Leonard, while she obsesses over the baby, how did you and Ollie meet?"

"Well, we met on the shuttle ride over from Iowa. Her roommate is childhood friends with my roommate and so the four of us just kind of stuck together. Those two are always late, so we just kinda got used to stickin' around each other." He says and I smile. "Doesn't help that she's injury prone. I'm also her attending physician."

"Control issues." I whisper and then I feel my heart melt as Lydia grips onto my index finger and smiles at me. "Oh! You caught me!" I say and she laughs. I wiggle my finger. "But it's legit injury prone-ness now and not just covering things up. He's a pretty alright guy."

"I'm glad you think so." He says dryly and Jasper smiles at me. Lydia lets out a shout. "Man, that takes me back. Make sure you hold onto her for as long as ya can. It goes fast. My daughter started second grade and next thing I know she's gonna be graduating medical school."

"Joanna wants to be a doctor, just like her daddy. She'll tell you." I say as I adjust her on my lap. She seems happier.

"I don't even want to think about second grade." Jasper says with a shake of his head. "It's weird how I thought, yeah I know love. I love my wife, but then Lydia was born and I can't even describe to you what I feel."

"Aww, Jazz." I say and he shrugs. "I can already tell that she's going to be a leader." I nod.

"We think so too." Abby says as she perches on the arm of the chair that Jasper is sitting in. "She's been testing my will power lately, but I think I'm coming out on top." Lydia smiles a big smile before she holds out her arms. "Then she does that." She comes over and takes the baby. "Dinner is ready."

"Alright, you guys are in for a treat." Jasper says and we all move to the table. Lydia is set up in a high chair beside Abby who has a container of baby food. Our dinner is incredibly familiar. "It was fate that I ran into you tonight, Abby makes meatloaf just like Grandma used to."

"Oh my god." I say, putting my hand over my heart. Abby gives Jasper's shoulder a playful shove.

"It's just meatloaf, don't make me sound like such a big deal." She says and then she smiles. I take a bite and I'm shocked.

"I can't tell you how many times I tried to recreate her meatloaf, but this is like spot on. There's just something about it." I smile. "It's great, Abby. Thank you." Dinner is great, I get to know my cousin's wife and they get to know more about Leonard and what all we've been up to the past year. When we return to my room, Leonard pulls me into a hug.

"I'm glad you had such a good time tonight, Darlin'." He says before he kisses me. "I didn't think you'd wanna let go of Lydia."

"You can't hold onto them forever." I say wistfully and then I laugh. "I'm just so glad to see Jasper happy. I was afraid that he was going to get lost there for a while."

"Kids have a way of makin' things make more sense." He says and I smile and kiss his cheek. "That's somethin' we should probably talk about, make sure we're on the same page. Is that somethin' that you would want to do?"

"Have kids?" I ask and then I purse my lips. "At this point in my life, I don't think so. I was supposed to have had at least two by now." I roll my eyes at that. "But I kind of just want to focus on figuring me out before I make a decision to bring another human into the world. I'm content to hold other people's babies." I look into his eyes. "Do you want more kids?"

"I'm good with Joanna, but if we do end up workin' out and you decide you want one, I'm not opposed." He says and I smile.

"So we're on the same page." I say and he nods. "Good, I didn't want to have to fight with you about that."

"It wouldn't be a fight. It's your body and you're entitled to makin' decisions about it." He says and I stand up on my toes to give him a really good kiss.

"That was a good answer." I say and he smirks. "Shall we talk more about bodily autonomy? We can study medical ethics together."

"That's not as sexy as anatomy." He says and I laugh and lay my forehead against his chest. "But we can make it work." He scoops me up and carries me off to my bedroom.

* * *

"I'm not going to hold back." Tro says as she stands across from me. We're dressed similarly in athletic leggings and sports bras. "I just don't want you to be surprised. You know vaguely what I used to do." She means the part where she was trained from a young age to be an assassin for some underground organization.

"That's why I asked for your help. If I asked Jim, he'd be too worried about hurting me to help me." I say and she shrugs.

"This is a little less than a trial by fire. I just want you to know that I hit really hard." She says and I smile.

"Honey, that's what I'm counting on. My biggest problem when it comes to real fights is that I've not actually participated in them." I say and then I spot Jim and Leonard walking up.

"Bagels is the give up word." She says and I let out a little giggle. She then looks to the boys. "Don't interfere, she can handle it." She's mostly talking to Jim. She looks back at me. "You ready?"

"Ready." I say and she's on me. I put up my arms just in time to block a punch to my face and I stumble back a step, but then I'm able to defend myself and even land some hits. She boxes me ears and knocks my feet out from under me. I land on my stomach and the air is knocked out of me. I'm dazed. She rolls me over but before she can attack again, I get back up and tackle her to the ground. She punches me to try and get out of my hold. We're struggling like crazy. I'm trying to pin her and she's not having it. She shoves me off of her and I get back up and take a few steps back. I'm breathing harder than she is, but she's definitely not breathing normally.

"You're not going to get breaks in a real fight, Peaches." She says and she's back on me. "You need to take me down as fast as you can, but you need to be smart about it. That's where Jim goes wrong." I grab her arm to try and get it around behind her back, but she switches it around on me and I'm in a headlock. We both hit the ground and she's pinning my arms with her legs. I give my best struggle, but she has me.

"Bagels." I say and she lets go and I rest my elbows on my knees and breathe for a minute. "If it weren't you, I would have headbutted to get out."

"That probably would have worked because really I don't expect that sort of thing from you. I guess I can definitely see your base in krav maga." She says with a laugh. "I recommend just not getting into that situation in the first place."

"Why didn't I think of that?" I ask and then a bottle of water appears in my line of sight. I look up and see Leonard. I greet him with a smile. "Thanks."

"That was terrifying to watch." Jim says and I glance over at him before I take a deep drink from my water bottle. "Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Ollie?"

"You should see us in bed." Tro says and I spit the water everywhere and cough. I shoot her a look and she blows me a kiss. "Kirk, go get a towel to clean that up. It's your fault."

"Definitely not my fault, but okay." He says and then he goes off to do just that. I put the lid back on the water bottle before I lay out like a star fish.

"Are you alright, Darlin'?" Leonard asks and I take a deep breath. Nothing hurts really except for my stomach and my boobs.

"Yeah." I say and then I laugh and roll over onto my stomach to shoot Tro a look. "I landed really hard that first time."

"I definitely felt sympathy pain." She says as she crosses her arms over her chest and gives a little shudder. "Nobody deserves that." Jim returns with the towel and he actually cleans it up for me.

"Thanks, Jimmy. But to answer your question, yes, Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It's best if I can subdue someone until someone with a little more meat on them can come help me out…or I can crush their trachea." I say and then I get up and pick up my water bottle. "So same time next week?" I offer my hand to her.

"Wear your ass kickin' pants." She says as she takes it and I pull her up. "I'll turn you into everyone's worst nightmare in no time."

"Wait, this is gonna be a weekly thing?" Leonard asks and I can see why he might be concerned. "Jim wasn't exaggerating."

"It'll get less scary as I get more experience with someone who isn't afraid of breaking me." I say and then I grin. "I just need to learn how to put to use my skills in a situation that isn't necessarily going to be fair."

"These are facts. Don't worry about it, McCoy. While I'm not going to go easy on here, I most certainly would never put her in actual danger. She's my girl." Tro says with a shrug. "Trollie for life."

"Trollie for life." I smile and then I stretch. "I'm going to grab a shower and then I require a nap."

"I'll wait for ya." Leonard says and I smile. Tro links her arm with mine and we return to the women's locker room. We grab our towels and toiletries and head for the shower stalls.

"So how's it been with McCowboy? We need to sit down and have a nice long catch up session." Tro says and I smile.

"Things have been going really well." I say as I massage the shampoo through my hair. "We had an interesting conversation the other night. You know how I told you about my cousin Jasper? How we went over for dinner?"

"Yeah, the one with the wife and the baby you're obsessed with." She says and I laugh as I rinse the shampoo.

"Well Leonard and I had a talk about whether or not I wanted to have kids." I say as I apply my conditioner. "It's an important conversation to have. Like if he wanted more kids now, I'd not be the one to be with for that."

"Yeah? So what's the verdict on that?" She asks and I can sense something on her tone. I rinse the conditioner.

"I just want to focus on me right now." I say and she hums. "And he said that Joanna's enough for him right now, but if we did work out and later on I decided I wanted a kid, he wouldn't be opposed."

"Good." She says and the weird note from her tone is gone. "I just don't want some guy thinking his desire for offspring is more important than what you want."

"Oh no, it's definitely not like that at all. I quote, 'it's your body and you're entitled to makin' decisions about it'." I try for his southern lilt and miss the mark.

"That's a good answer." She says with a laugh. "And that was an awful impression of him." I laugh. I finish washing my body and shut the water off. I reach out to the rack and grab my towel. I towel dry my hair before I wrap the towel around my body and gather my things. "I'll see you later, Peaches."

"Bye, Honey." I say and then I head to my locker. I dress quickly and deal with my hair before I head out to meet Leonard. Jim is waiting with him, with his back to me. I run up and leap onto Jim's back. "So what are we doing?"

"I feel like I need to get you ice cream now." Jim says as he turns his head to look at me. "Like I know what you're capable of, but damn."

"Was it so bad because it was Tro and I?" I ask and he shrugs. I smile as I let go and walk around to have a normal conversation with them. "It's the only way I'm going to get the results I want. Support me?"

"As long as you're not dumb about it." He says and I smile. "You guys can go on ahead, I'll wait for Troian."

"Okay." I say and then I take Leonard's arm and head out of there. "I'm working on my subtle interrogation technique to figure out what's going on with them."

"How are you gonna be subtle about interrogatin' the two of them?" He asks and I get that 'up to no good' smile. "When one realizes what's goin' on, they'll tell the other."

"I'm going to start with Jim, he will be the easier of the two for me to get answers out of. That soft spot for me will be his downfall. Tro will be difficult because she's got careful walls built up all around her, and I'm one of her favorite people." I say and then I hum. "I've planted seeds for girl talk, so we'll see what comes of that."

"Girl talk?" He asks, sounding amused at the idea. "Somehow Sullivan doesn't strike me as the type for girl talk."

"When it comes to her Peaches, she is. Who do you think I called when Rachel was making me feel weird?" I ask and he gets a look about him. "Is that because I brought her up or I didn't talk to you first?"

"A little of both." He says and I smile an apology. "It just still upsets me that she'd try to ruin us."

"But guess what." I say as I give his arm a squeeze. "She didn't. And I guess I really can't blame her for wanting you back. The way I see it though is that where you were isn't where you were meant to grow. People have seasons too." I shrug.

"Well that particular season isn't one I want to revisit." He says and I smile. "Now I need to kiss ya to get the taste out of my mouth again."

"I think you just want an excuse to kiss me." I say and he winks at me and I shake my head. "You'll have to be patient, I have some questions for you."

"Are they the good kind of questions?" He asks and I shrug innocently. He eyes me warily. "Continue."

"So, according to a not so anonymous source, your birthday is approximately four days away." I start and he gets that annoyed look that usually only comes out when Andrew is actually around. "So I was going to see if you had anything you wanted to do, or if I should just plan something and sweet talk you into it."

"Darlin', you don't have to do anything special for my birthday." He says and I give him a look.

"You literally kidnapped me." I say and he tries to hide his amusement at least. "You carried me like a sack of potatoes across campus. I didn't even want to celebrate my birthday."

"You forgot that it was your own birthday because you were makin' yourself so busy." He says and I raise my eyebrows in challenge. "But you know what? You can go ahead and plan somethin'."

"Leonard McCoy, are you trying to reverse psychology me?" I ask and he tries to look innocent. "Oh, it was going to be a small thing with just the two of us, but I'm going to get Jim involved now."

"Don't be hasty." He says and I give him the challenge look again. "What's it gonna take to not get Jim involved?" I hum thoughtfully.

"We're in a pretty interesting position right now, I can ask for anything I want." I say, sounding a bit like a brat on purpose. "Let's see…in order for me to not involve Jim, I would like for you to willingly have a nice dinner with me to celebrate your birthday."

"You had me worried for a second." He says and I laugh. "That's been your plan all along, hasn't it? Since Andrew opened his big mouth."

"Why are you so against celebrating your birthday?" I ask and he shrugs. "If you seriously don't want to do anything, we don't have to."

"No, a date with you sounds nice." He says and I shake my head. "But that's really all your revenge for last year is?"

"The thought of what I might do has been on your mind since I swore revenge. That's enough for me." I say and he narrows his eyes at me. "Unless you want me to throw a big surprise party with all of your doctor friends as well as anyone Jim might invite."

"I'll take the psychological torture." He says and I roll my eyes at his dramatics. "That's really it?"

"Maybe." I say and he looks paranoid now. I laugh. "Maybe I'm luring you into a false sense of security."

"Now you're doin' what Andrew tries to do, but you do it better." He says and I laugh again.

"I'm your favorite pain in the ass." I say affectionately and then I sigh. "I'm already resigned to the fact that Jim and Tro will make a big deal out of my birthday. Twenty-four. Woo."

"Twenty-four is fun." He says and I give him a side-eye. "That's when Malachi and I took over Dr. Gregg's practice. Mid-twenties Leonard settled down a bit."

"A bit." I say and he shrugs. "Well if you supposedly calm down in your mid-twenties, I'm about to get a lot more boring."

"I'd argue that you really only just started your twenties considering what you left." He says and I shake my head.

"No, I think I just advanced even further. I'm probably going into late sixties Olivia." I sigh. That has him laughing. "My body is in its twenties, my mind is late sixties." I nod. "Though with proper care, I can look like this for a long time."

"Good lord." He says as he takes my hand and spins me. "I don't know if I could handle all that."

"Maybe if I don't wear jeans." I shake my head. "You're ridiculous, you know this, right?"

"I might know somethin' about it." He says, holding the door open for me as we reach our residence hall. "So what's on your agenda for tonight?"

"I thought I'd go crazy and do some studying." I say as I step onto the lift. He presses the button for our floor. "What about you?"

"I'm meetin' up with Fairchild and Grace in about twenty minutes to go over some material for a test comin' up." He says and I hum. "Your study group philosophy has rubbed off on me."

"Find people you trust and then pick their brains. It's the easiest way to solidify your understanding." I shrug.

"Yeah, the only problem is that they're a little too much like Easton and Malachi." He says and I shake my head.

"I think that's just the people you pick." I stop in front of my door. "Have a good study date." He leans down and kisses me.

"The only person I study date with is you." He says and I try not to appear too amused. "Try to get some sleep?"

"That's the plan." I say with a wink and then I go into my room and throw myself down onto my bed.

* * *

"McCoy, looks like you've got a pretty girl waiting for you." Grace says as the three doctors leave their classroom. Leonard looks over at me and he raises his eyebrows. "I'd ditch us too."

"It's hardly ditchin' ya if I already had plans." He says and I smile as I walk over to join the three of them.

"I do believe this is the first time I've seen you without an injury." Fairchild says and I laugh.

"It's his birthday." I whisper. "That and I don't have any combat classes this semester. But it was lovely seeing you gentleman, but I must take this man to an undisclosed location."

"That's not suspicious at all." Leonard says and I smile sweetly at him and he narrows his eyes.

"Bye guys." I wave to them before I drag Leonard away. I grab the backpack I stowed and start walking down the stairs.

"The return of the backpack." He says, still suspicious. "Do I get to know what's in the bag this time?"

"You didn't think you were wearing your uniform, did you?" I ask, still leading him by the hand. I push open the door and lead the way to the gym since it's closest. I reach into the bag and hand him the clothes I grabbed for him. He eyes me warily before he goes into the men's locker room to change. I go and change in the women's locker room. My hair and make up is done, but my outfit for our date is a little nicer. A red wrap dress underneath my favorite black leather jacket. The look is completed with black ankle boots. I store the backpack in my locker before I head back out. Leonard stands up and blinks at me a few times. "You ready to go?" He takes my hand as I walk up to him. "Yes?"

"Darlin', if you were just a pretty girl before, you're a damn gorgeous woman now." He says and I smile.

"I can look like a twelve-year-old boy and also a movie star. I'm a woman of many talents." I say and he grins before he leans in and gives me a kiss. "Alright, now we need to get going."

"Are you gonna tell me where we're goin' now?" He asks and I smile sweetly as I pull him into a walk. "You've gotta give me somethin', Darlin'."

"Well, we're going to have dinner." I say and then I glance over my shoulder to see the dry look he's giving me. I laugh. "Just trust me, Leonard." I pull him a little closer so I can look at his watch.

"You're bein' sneaky. And you're tryin' to distract me from it." He says and I don't hide my amusement. We arrive at the car that's waiting for us and he opens the door for me.

"I guess it's a good thing this is one of those times where it's alright for you to be distracted." I say and then I smile for real. "It's really not bad."

"I'm not worried about it bein' bad." He says and I shrug. I check my messages and Juarez lets me know that everything is in place. We arrive and Leonard looks around, trying to figure out where we are. "What's goin' on here?"

"Come on." I say as I take his hand and lead him over to the table that says it's reserved. "Dinner and then we've got a nice spot nearby to watch one of our favorite movies." I gesture at the wall that the movie will be projected on. I stand up on my toes and kiss his cheek. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Darlin'." He says and I smile. "How'd you find out about this?" He looks around again.

"Josh and Juarez." I say and he nods as he pulls out a chair for me. "Thank you." He kisses my cheek before he sits across from me. The wait staff brings out our meal for the evening and Leonard just shakes his head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'." He looks at me. "You get the short end of the stick in this relationship, you're a hell of a lot more romantic than I am."

"You have to put up with me being a pain in the ass." I say with a shrug. "And you're plenty romantic."

"I'm not star gazin' and outdoor movie screenin' romantic." He says and I give him a look.

"This was supposed to make you happy, not make you question whether or not you adequately sweep me off of my feet." I say and that changes his tune.

"I'm very happy." He says as he reaches across the table and takes my hand. "This kinda reminds me of my last birthday. Jim kicked me out, so you offered me solace."

"In a lot of ways we owe Jim and Troian for us happening." I say and he makes a face. "Of course we won't tell them that. We would never hear the end of it from Jim."

"Don't I know it." He says and then he looks around. "I'm suspicious, because all he did today was tell me happy birthday."

"Unfortunately, he is out of my control. Though he did sort of give me the inspiration I needed for this idea, so maybe he's taking credit." I shake my head. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do, so I asked him and he said a romantic, candlelit dinner, to which I said that any asshole could do that." He shakes his head. "So he suggested that I figure out a way to make something we normally do together a little more special."

"That's not terrible advice." He says and then I shake my head. "But I'll bet there was more to it."

"We won't talk about that part." I say as I begin eating. "How did your test go? Was the study group successful?"

"It was. I'm fairly confident." He says and I smile. "And how did your debate go? There's no way any of 'em stood a chance."

"Juarez and I obliterated the opposition." I say and he laughs. "And I never even looked at my notes once."

"That's impressive, you had quite a few statistics to memorize." He says and I smile before I take a drink of my water.

"I feel like medical ethics is my fun class. It's all about the same basic principle of not being a dick." I say and that makes him laugh.

"There's a bit more to it than that, but you're not wrong." He then shakes his head. "I'm just glad that you visit me at the clinic less."

"And they're usually social calls." I say with a smile. As we finish up with dinner, the movie is starting. I lead him by the hand to the spot that Juarez set up for us as the back of the grassy area that will be serving as our theatre. We sit on the blanket together, leaning against the low wall and he puts his arm around me. "Are you still good with the surprise?"

"So what makes you think Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my favorite movies?" He asks, his tone suggesting amusement.

"Anytime I say surprise me, you pick it." I say as I look up at him and smile. "I'm sorry if it's not."

"Kinda ruins my…tough guy image, but you aren't wrong. It's a guilty pleasure." He says and I kiss his cheek. We settle in and watch the movie. The evening couldn't be more perfect. When the movie is over we head back to campus.

"Hey…it's been bugging me what you said earlier, about me having the short end of the stick in this relationship." I say as I take his arm. We're walking back towards our residence hall now.

"You're the sort of woman who deserves flowers just because." He says and that brings a small smile to my face.

"Maybe." I say simply and then I shrug. "But I don't need grand gestures, nor do I really want them. It's the little stuff that makes me feel like I'm special. Like when you give me your jacket when I haven't even said I was cold and when putting your arm around me is just so natural."

"What is it you said? Any asshole can do that." He says and that makes me laugh. "I just want you to know how special you are to me, Darlin'."

"Leonard, I promise you that I know how special I am to you." I stop and take his hands. "Is this about the thing with Rachel?"

"That damn harpy knows how to get in my head." He says and I take a step closer to him and pull his arms around me. It's now been an entire month since the fight they had.

"Look at me." I say and his eyes fall on mine. "There is nothing that woman could do that would make me not want to be with you. Our relationship is on our terms."

"I think you're finally startin' to get where I come from with you." He says and I think about it for a moment.

"I guess I can kind of see how it's similar, but as I've said, she's not trying to kill you." I fix the collar of his shirt. "Or me. Unless she is and you've been hiding that from me."

"She's not tryin' to kill you." He says and I take a deep breath. "It's unfortunate, but she'll have to be part of my life until Joanna's eighteen at least. You got ten years in you?"

"Rounding up, I'll be thirty-four." I say thoughtfully. "You really think you're going to put up with my shit for that long?"

"It's a start." He says with a shrug and I laugh. "What about you? I know all of this is pretty great, but you know I'm not a ball of sunshine."

"No, you're Dr. Sunshine." I say, standing up on my toes to place a kiss on his cheek. "Let's get through three years first."

"I'll take what I can get." He says with a smirk. "Did you think we'd ever be here?" I look around and then I look down at myself, safely tucked into his arms.

"Sweeping my hunky boyfriend who is a doctor off of his feet?" I ask thoughtfully. "No, I always thought it would just be a dumb crush."

"You and me both." He says and then he looks thoughtful. "Come on, I need to get that awful taste out of my mouth again."

"Yeah, I think that's just your excuse for wanting to make out with me now." I say and he looks innocent. "You're worse than a teenager."

"I'd like to think I'm better than a teenager." He says and I pretend to think about it. "Now I've gotta defend my honor. You've done it now."

"Oh no, my hunky doctor boyfriend wants to make out with me. What am I going to do?" I ask, feigning distress. "Do your worst."


	10. The McCoy Setup

_Welcome to chapter 10! Here we are at another McCoy Christmas! I always loving writing the dynamics of Olivia with the McCoys! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

I sit down on the bench, regulating my breathing when Tro comes over with two bottles of water. She hands me one and I drink deeply from it.

"So, I don't think your problem is with lack of experience in real world fighting. Our training the past couple of months has been good for you, but that's not the main problem." She says and I look at her. "Because based on what I've seen from him, you should have no problem doing it. You're physically capable."

"So the problem is psychological." I say and she hums. I sigh. "I don't know what to do to defend myself against him then."

"I'll help you get there." She says and I look at her. "I'm not great at making friends. I'm distant and I don't trust easily. I mean hell, it was a year before I even told you remotely what I did before this." She looks down at her hands. "You help me and you are someone who is very important to me, so I am going to help you. It might get scary."

"The only thing that scares me is the idea of anyone I care about getting hurt." I say and then I take another drink of water. "Getting beat up? Those pains fade away. When he gets out, I don't think he's going to directly come after me anymore. He might, but I think he's going to switch to manipulative tactics."

"So we need to work on beefing you up against those." She says and I nod. "You actually hurt me today, Ollie. I've never been more proud." I laugh.

"You're a weirdo, Troian Sullivan." I say and she puts her arm around me. "So how's my jiu-jitsu coming along?"

"You've gotten a lot better since we started working on it together. You're so nimble though, I'd kind of like to get you started in Muay Thai. You've got some elements in with your krav maga techniques, but I really think you'd do well with it. I'm also a personal fan of expanding your repertoire." She takes a drink of her water. "I can get a tutor to come in and teach you."

"I'll let you know." I say and she nods. "I'll forgive you for the split lip." She winks at me.

"Good thing McCowboy is still too scared of me to give me any dirty looks." She says and I laugh. "No, he's alright."

"If he weren't, would you let him within a hundred feet of me?" I ask and she considers that.

"You're right." She shrugs. "I've got to get going. Tonight, we are having a girls' night. Ice cream, movies, pajamas. The whole nine yards."

"Yes ma'am." I say and she winks at me again before she picks up her bag and heads out of the room that she's been booking for our training sessions. I pick up my own bag and head out. As I'm walking, someone puts their hand on my shoulder. Startled, I hip toss them and I realize that its Fairchild. "Oh my god, Fairchild. Are you okay?"

"A little startled, but yeah." He says, accepting my hand up. "You dropped this." He hands me the jacket I had hanging from my bag. "I guess you weren't kidding about those combat classes, huh?"

"You've got to always be prepared. Sorry about that, I've been training with a friend and it wouldn't be above her to sneak attack me." I say and then I look him over one more time. "Are you sure you're okay? I feel really bad about that."

"I'm fine, we all get at least a little bit of training. Good form, by the way." He says and I laugh. "Well, I'll see you around."

"See you." I offer a wave before I leave the gym, more than a little embarrassed. Leonard meets me outside. "So Fairchild is going to have a story for you next time you see him."

"That man always has some sort of story for me. What's it gonna be this time?" He asks and I just start laughing.

"Well, I hip-tossed him." I say and he just shakes his head. "To be fair, I thought Tro was sneaking up on me. I actually just dropped my jacket and he was returning it to me."

"That'll teach him." He says and I cover my face. He laughs, then he gently takes my chin and tilts my head up to look at my lip. "Did he do that? Or was that Sullivan?"

"Totally Fairchild." I say with a nod. "That's why it's already scabbed over and everything."

"Listen, Smart Ass." He says and I wink at him. He takes my bag for me and throws it over his shoulder. "So, you comin' with me for Christmas again this year?"

"Would your mother permit me not to?" I ask and he allows that. "It'll be good to see everyone again." I link my arm with his. "And this time there will be no unwelcome interruptions, knock on wood."

"You couldn't have waited until we were actually near some wood to knock on?" He asks and I shake my head. "Everything is gonna be fine."

"I agree." I smile. "So Tro thinks I should expand my repertoire to be less grapple-y." He looks hesitant. "It's a style known as Muay Thai. Which my initial training before Starfleet has elements from that. I'm going to do some more research on it before I make any decisions."

"Yeah, and does Sullivan have any other genius ideas about your fightin'?" He asks, less than thrilled, but I expect this.

"Well…she doesn't think that lack of real-world experience is my problem when it comes to defending myself against Marcus." I gently tap my fingers against his arm. "And since she's said it, I can see it. I don't keep my head like I do otherwise."

"It makes sense." He agrees. "So, what are you thinkin' to try and get over that?" I shrug. "Well, I'm here for you."

"I know." I lean my head against his arm. "I know that you all are. The past year and a half has been training myself out of those survival habits I had. Do you have any idea how freeing it is to be able to take birth control without having to sneak around?"

"I imagine it's pretty freeing." He says and I sigh. "You've been doin' a great job. It gets a little better every day."

"It does." I agree. "And it helps that I've got a pretty great boyfriend who is incredibly patient with me."

"Yeah? Who's that?" He asks and I bump his hip with mine. "You're worth it. Especially because you beat up my annoying friends."

"Wait until we see Malachi and Easton again." I say and that has him laughing. "They wouldn't know what to do if I did that to them."

"You should definitely do it to Andrew." He says and I shake my head. "He's been botherin' me a lot lately."

"Bothering you how?" I ask and he shakes his head. "Leonard, I tell you literally everything."

"I'll tell ya later." He says and I give him a dubious look. "I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you?" I think back.

"I don't think so." I say and then I point at him. "You once told me that it wasn't going to hurt before you hypoed me."

"Yeah, doctors are trained to tell that lie though, so it doesn't really count." He shrugs. I roll my eyes. "I'll tell ya later, Darlin'."

"You win this round, but just remember, I have ways of making you talk." I wink at him. "But I'll get back at Andrew for you. I'll ask him if he wants a demonstration of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and then use him as the test dummy."

"He's gonna fall right into that trap. You're diabolical." He kisses the top of my head. "I knew I loved you for a good reason."

"And here I thought it was just my incredible ass." I say and he shrugs. "Oh! What if we made it look like it was easy to do and so when he inevitably wants to try it, I can startle him with a triangle choke."

"I think you woulda been a great older sibling." He says and I laugh. "Maybe. We gotta teach him about tappin' out properly though."

"Would I ever actually put someone I care about in danger?" I ask dubiously. "He'll be fine. He's a big, tough guy. He can probably bench press me."

"All a hundred and fifteen pounds." He says and I jump away and point at him. "Darlin'?"

"I'm not a hundred and fifteen pounds. I'm one-twenty-two!" I exclaim and then I go in for a high five. He chuckles, but high fives me none the less.

"I'm proud of ya, Darlin'." He says as he brings me back in and puts his arm around me. "See? I told ya not bein' stressed was good for ya."

"Watch it, McCoy." I say and he chuckles as he holds the door open for me and I enter our residence hall.

"Another detail, Momma wants to know if we're bunkin' together this time." He says and I look at him.

"Do you want to 'bunk' with me?" I ask, using air quotes. We step onto the lift and take it up to our floor.

"It's up to you. I'm alright with it, I just wanted to give ya an option." He says, typing in my code for me. We step into the room.

"Sure. Are you still going to do yoga with me while we're there?" I ask and he looks hesitant. "You don't have to learn it. I don't want to teach you if you're going to be embarrassed about it."

"No, you're right. It has helped." He says with a sigh. He sets my bag down on the couch. I go over and wrap my arms around him. "I just know that little shit is gonna say somethin' if he sees us."

"Well, we'll be sharing a room. I'm positive that there will be enough space for us to do yoga together before breakfast." I stand up on my toes. "No one has to know that you do yoga." I whisper.

"I don't even care if anyone knows. He's just like a flea that won't stop bitin'." He says, narrowing his eyes at the thought of his brother. "Momma thinks its great."

"I figured she would." I give him a chaste kiss. "I'm sweaty and gross, so I'm going to take a shower."

"You're not gross." He rolls his eyes. "I'll be here." He kisses me and I wink at him before I collect clean clothes and take a shower. Once I'm finished, I dress in my yoga pants and tee shirt combo before I comb through my hair. It's gotten pretty long again. It's definitely not a bad look on me, but my hair was never something I actually had a choice over. It had to be long and it had to be perfect. So I will be going back to short hair. I don't apply any product and I just pull it up into a bun before I go and join Leonard on the couch. He's studying. "When's your last final?"

"I've got…two on Thursday…a certification exam on Saturday…two on Monday…and then I've got one early Tuesday morning." I list them off and then smile. "So Tuesday I'll be done around….eleven-ish."

"Alright and I'm done Tuesday around one. So you wanna leave around three?" He asks and I shrug.

"That sounds alright to me." I go over and sit down beside him. He closes out of his textbook and then goes to reserve our seats. "Look at us, we're like a real couple or something."

"Or somethin'." He agrees and then he puts his arm around me. "I love you." I look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I love you too. Is everything okay?" I ask and he shrugs and opens his textbook back up. "Leonard, I know you love me, but you don't typically just say it like that." I observe him, trying to figure it out. "Are you nervous because we're definitely going to see Rachel again?"

"This is why we're doin' the yoga thing." He kisses the top of my head. "So I get over that."

"If Marcus showing up at your parents' house didn't mess this thing up, I don't think that there's anything you can do that'll mess things up with me. Aside from the obvious, but you're not that sort of man." I cross my legs and give his foot a little kick. "So just love me like you have been and we won't have a problem."

"I'm still gonna sweep ya off your damn feet." He mutters, going back to his reading. I smile and grab my own tablet before I settle in to study for my own exams.

* * *

Thomas and Lucille meet us as we walk up the steps of the front porch. I meet her with open arms and she gives me a tight squeeze. Then she passes me off and Thomas gives me a lighter hug. Hugging him feels less weird to me now, which I'm thankful for.

"I'm so glad you two are here now." Lucille says as she cups my face. "Oh, you're more beautiful every time I see you."

"I say that and I get smacked." Leonard says and I roll my eyes at him. "So you're just beautiful, deal with it."

"I never said I wasn't." I say and Lucille laughs as she takes me by the hand and leads me inside. Leonard takes my bag from me and I raise my eyebrows at him and he maintains eye contact as he walks over to the stairs and heads up by himself. "That boy."

"You sound exactly like his mother." Thomas says, laughing. "And this way you get to miss his enthusiastic realization that his brother is already here."

"How that one manages to annoy him so much from this far away is actually impressive to me." I shake my head and head into the kitchen where Lucille had gone to. "What needs done?" I'm washing my hands at the sink.

"If you must," She starts, giving me a look, but before she can finish, Andrew jogs into the kitchen.

"Leonard said you wanted to show me your jiu-jitsu?" He looks a little excited and I have to work at maintaining my straight face.

"I can give you a demonstration. Leonard needs practice anyway." I say and my boyfriend gives me a look as he enters behind his brother. "Oh, hi honey." I giggle at the look that gets. "I was going to help…"

"Go." Lucille gives me a stern look. "Maybe you can make those boys behave themselves for once."

"Lucille, I'm a mediator, not a miracle worker." I sigh and she laughs. "I will be helping you while I'm here."

"Whatever you say, Sweetheart." She says, giving me a placating smile. "Go, have fun." I shake my head and head into the living room with the McCoy boys and their father.

"We're gonna need some room. Give me a hand with the couch." Leonard says and Andrew obliges. I put my hand over my heart.

"You two can work together." I say like it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen. They clear out enough space and I pull as much hair as I can into a small bun. "But anyway, as we go, I'll explain why this is a good style for me because it does seem a little excessive." We take off our shoes. "So, I'm one-twenty-two and I bench about one-forty." Andrew nods. "Leonard is one-sixty-three? And he benches…one-ninety-five?"

"Give or take." He says with a shrug. "The point is, she's tiny, but in control of her emotions."

"Correct." I grin. "Now for me, I either want to be out of their reach or I want to be in close enough so that they can't put much force behind their hits. So I'm going to take Leonard to the floor now." I go in and I fold him to the floor and get on top of him. "This is where you want to be because, yeah he could punch, but he can't really torque it. From this position, he could also throw me off pretty easily." Leonard demonstrates that gently. I go back to position. "Oh come on, like ya mean it." He gives me an unimpressed look. I wait. He rolls his eyes and then he tosses me off a little more like when I'm training him. I go back. "So, what ya do is," I lean forward and hook my ankles under his knees. "lean all of your body weight on your opponent , is it prevents him from throwing me off, because while he can bench almost two hundred pounds, he can't bench press the both of us. So this is effective for me because it could wig someone out who hasn't encountered this before and if they're struggling, they'll tire easier." I unhook my ankles and sit back up.

"This is cool too," Leonard starts and then he rolls us, so he has the upper hand position. "she can still be entirely in control."

"Like this." I get him into a triangle hold and he taps out quickly. I let him go. "When you put pressure on the carotid artery like that, you've got six seconds before you go unconscious." I scoot away and sit up. "I took down the biggest guy in my training seminar that way…which is probably why guys on campus don't bother me much anymore."

"Especially after that pretty public spar with Sullivan as well." Leonard says and I roll my eyes at that. "And she judo flipped one of my friends. She's mean."

"He startled me. Tro is evil." I defend myself and he smiles at me. "You get extra ornery when we come here."

"You love it." He says and I roll my eyes. He looks to Andrew. "So what'd ya think? You scared of her yet?"

"I wouldn't want to be on the receivin' end of one of those choke holds, I'll tell ya that much." He says and I chuckle as I stand up and offer my hand to Leonard.

"But that's it, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is easy." He says as he takes my hand and lets me help him up.

"Yeah, you weren't saying that the first time I was teaching you." I say and he gives me an indignant look. "Don't call me mean and maybe I won't act out."

"She's got ya there, son." Thomas says as he sits in his chair. "I'm glad you found somethin' that works well for ya, Olivia."

"Me too. When we get back, I'm going to start training in another style. I'm pretty excited to explore it." I say as I go over to grab one end of the couch, but the boys don't let me. "Sexist." I mutter as I sit down on it to make it slightly more inconvenient for them.

"So what made ya decide to want to start teachin' that stuff to Leonard?" Andrew asks as he takes a seat beside me. My boyfriend gives him a look as he sits down in the other chair.

"While I am also fond of him, I want him to always be able to get back here to you guys." I shrug. "It's good practice for me. He's pretty decent in a fight."

"Don't let his momma hear you talkin' like that." Thomas says and I decide not to bring up the accidental split lip. "Especially if you mean against you."

"I wouldn't make it to Christmas." Leonard says, shaking his head. "But you made a compellin' argument. But of course, I went easy on ya."

"If that helps you sleep at night." I say sweetly. I receive another indignant look that makes me smile. "You're so cute when you smile at me like that."

"I'll show ya smilin'." He mutters. "I'm your boyfriend, damn it, not some mixed martial arts fighter."

"Por qué no ambos*?" I ask with a shrug. "Ideally you won't need it, but the couple who spars together, kicks ass together."

"Okay, now that's cute." Andrew says and I shrug again. "Oh, congratulations on the good news. Three years." It makes sense that me talking about fighting would remind him of Marcus.

"Three years." I agree with a nod. "I've actually managed to relax a little bit since that, which has been wonderful for my sleeping. My doctor has no complaints."

"I wouldn't say no complaints." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "At least you're not teeterin' back and forth on bein' underweight."

"Leonard lookin' on the bright side? What have you done to him, Olivia?" Andrew asks and I shrug. "At least some things never change."

"You see to that." Leonard mutters and I shake my head, he looks to his father. "So, Pa, what's new with you?"

"Pretty much more of the same." Thomas says offering a bit of a shrug. I'm still not sure exactly what that entails, but he seems content with it so I smile. "Your momma convinced me to start goin' to dance classes with her."

"She mentioned that last time we talked on the phone." Leonard says and he has a bit of a smile on now.

"I hope I don't lose my will power like the two of you whenever I get around to findin' a lady." Andrew says and Leonard shakes his head.

"You'll understand when it happens." He says and I eye him warily. "There are worse things than not bein' able to say no to you."

"That might be one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me." I say and that earns an amused shake of Thomas' head. "Well, it's up there with calling me a medical marvel. You and Lucille raised a real sweetheart." I'm being sincere, even though it sounds sarcastic.

"What's the actual sweetest thing he's ever said to you? I want to make fun of him for it." Andrew says and I try to think back.

"Oh." I clear my throat. "If you think you're only as pretty as I am handsome, then you're delusional."

"Of course it is." Andrew laughs. "I can't even make fun of that. No, wait, yes I can. Dr. Biceps thinks he's handsome."

"Did you not just see that I'm learnin' to turn people into pretzels?" Leonard asks his brother and I shake my head. "As often as her friends call me Dr. Boyfriend. And she calls me Dr. Sunshine, Dr. Sensitive, and under the influence of pain medication, even Dr. Hunky."

"It sounds like someone is proud she's datin' a doctor." Andrew says, turning the annoying brother bit back on me.

"He's a damn good doctor." I shrug. "I don't think I really even started that, did I?" I'm trying to think back.

"Who knows anymore?" He asks and I offer a fair enough look. "At least you didn't start Dr. Boyfriend. Your friends are weird."

"You count as one of my friends, you know." I say and he shrugs. I shake my head. "What have you gotten into since I last saw you, Andrew?"

"Not too much. I am gonna start takin' classes this upcoming semester. Sociology. I might even go for a doctorate. Then someday we'll have at least three Dr. McCoy's." He says and I chuckle.

"I've got a bachelor's in soc. Let me know if you need any help." I smile. "I was going to try and go for a PhD and do research in the social psychology field."

"Not that it's easy to forget you're an intelligent person, but sometimes I do forget that you're basically a genius." Andrew says and I roll my eyes. "I'll see how it goes, but you'll be at least the third person I call. I know you're busy."

"I'm never too busy for friends…unless I'm trying to avoid you. Then I'm incredibly busy." I say and Leonard shakes his head and rolls his eyes. I smile sweetly. "You've hardly been the target of that in at least almost a year."

"Yeah, you just put me through Squirrely Jim." He says and I smile sweetly again. "I get it."

"I know you do." I assure him. "I was actually incredibly merciful with that. I could've avoided him for at least another week."

"At least there weren't anymore dive rolls this time." He says and I snicker. "You're ridiculous."

"If people didn't try to make me talk before I was ready, I wouldn't have to be ridiculous. I used to hide out with One-Eyed Pete when I wanted to avoid people, but he's not here to protect me now." I say and Andrew raises an eyebrow at me.

"You were friends with a guy called One-Eyed Pete?" He asks incredulously. "I learn somethin' new about you every time I see you."

"He and the bartender, Thomas, looked after me. They were probably the closest friends I had in Illinois." I say and then I shake my head. "My life is weird."

"More like cool. I wish I were friends with someone named One-Eyed Pete. Did he only have one eye?" He asks, giving me the same exact reaction I usually get when I talk about Pete.

"He definitely had two eyes, but you don't ask a guy with that kind of nickname where he got it from." I say and that has Thomas laughing. "Especially as little as I was? He could've broke me in half with his pinky finger. He worked in the private sector, if you know what I mean."

"You were friends with an assassin?" Andrew asks, his jaw slightly agape. Leonard even has his eyebrows raised.

"Listen, I never asked. All I know is that he offered to take care of my problem once and Thomas told me no later." I say and then I laugh. "Wow, my life really is super weird."

"Yeah? And we signed up for it to get even weirder." Leonard says with a shake of his head. "At least you're not hangin' out with potential assassins anymore."

"Okay, he was probably more like a mercenary, but that's not much better. Though it might say something for his character that he never asked me for anything in return for looking after me sometimes." I don't sound defensive, but I am defending him. He never did anything bad to me and I haven't heard of anything that he's done that's been bad. "He dealt with Drunk Ollie the best. She would get herself into all kinds of trouble. I don't miss her."

"We've all got our worst moments." Thomas says and I smile. "I'm glad it seems like yours are startin' to get further behind ya finally."

"You and me both." I say and that makes me feel a little emotional, even though I don't show it. It hadn't really been acknowledged until now. I saw it as a pause in bad moments with Marcus going to prison, but it actually is progress.

* * *

"I don't wanna get up." Leonard says as he wraps his arms around my waist tighter. "Let's start over with the yoga when we get back."

"You can start over when we get back." I try to peel myself away from him, but he just wraps me up tighter. "Leonard." I can't help the little giggle.

"I was havin' the best dream. Let's just go back to sleep." He says and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah? What was your dream about? If it was good enough you want to go back to sleep for it." I say and he looks at me for a moment.

"Darlin', we've got yoga to do." He says as he lets go of me and gets out of bed. I lay on my side and look up at him, unimpressed. "Unless you want to go back to bed?"

"Now you're trying to make it seem like it was my idea." I say as I try to figure it out. "I wouldn't be as curious as I am if you didn't act so suspicious."

"I was comfortable and I didn't want to get up. You happy?" He says and I narrow my eyes at him before I pat the spot he vacated. "What about the yoga?"

"We can cuddle and practice mindfulness." I say and he lays back down and pulls me into his arms. "This is nice, isn't it?" He hums and I snuggle up to him again.

"You are the most cuddle-y sleeper I have ever encountered. And Joanna slept in the same bed as me until she was three and a half." He says and I shrug. I note how he doesn't mention her mother with that. "As often as you nap when I'm around, I figured you would be, but man."

"Is that a bad thing?" I ask, leaning my head back so that I can get a better look at him. I am a little worried.

"Not at all." He kisses my forehead. "And you don't have killer breath first thing in the mornin'? Are you even human?"

"I must be a pretty convincing android if you, my doctor and the man I sometimes have intimate interactions with, can't tell if I'm human or not." I say and he grins. "Mhm. So, what was your dream about?"

"It was about you." He says and I roll my eyes. "What? I can't want to have nice dreams about my girlfriend?"

"Why do you need to dream about me when you've got me right here?" I ask and the kiss he gives me tells me why. "Also, you must be an android too since you also do not have morning breath."

"Mhm, needed to distract your mind?" He asks, winking at me. "We are in my parents' home, Olivia."

"I'm not the one having those kinds of dreams, Leonard." I say and then I shake my head. "You're incorrigible."

"I like to think I might be corrigible." He says and then he thinks on it. "On other things. You're one habit I don't wanna give up."

"Oh, so I'm just a habit now?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. "I like how even first thing in the morning we have our sassy rapport."

"When I'm not wakin' ya out of a dead sleep." He says and I try to think of a time where that's happened. "Last Christmas? The snow? I still remember how adorable your face was."

"Oh yeah." I smile and let myself get comfortable again. "Are you worried about seeing her again?"

"Not worried, but I know better than to let her get close now. I'm gonna need to get that taste outta my mouth again." He says and I nuzzle his neck.

"Nope, you've got to deal with that on your own." I say and he starts tracing patterns on my back. "What exactly did she say to get so into your head that three months later it still bugs you?" He sighs.

"She's the insecure sort, so she started bad mouthin' you." He starts and I nod. "Said you'd probably get bored with me."

"She and I obviously do not know the same man." I say as I tilt my head back to look at him. He's got that smirk on his face. "Go on."

"She just reminded me of everything I did wrong and I don't want to do that with you." He says and I nod.

"Okay…have you done any of that so far?" I ask and he looks up as he thinks about it. "You told me about emotional availability, and if we aren't emotionally available to each other right now, then I don't know the meaning of it."

"You're right." He allows and then he shakes his head. "Ten years." I smile. "And you'll be there for at least three of them to keep me in line."

"If you're lucky, which so far you have been. I'd say your chances are good." I say and he kisses me slow and sweet. "I read an article that kisses like that extend a relationship by at least five minutes."

"Five minutes? Well, we'd better get to work." He says and I giggle as I pull away from him. He pulls me back by my waist and he locks his fingers together over my stomach.

"Well I guess that's okay." I stop struggling and he kisses my cheek. "You're not going to convince me to skip yoga tomorrow."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He says innocently and I turn my head to give him a look. "You act like I'm incorrigible."

"You literally said I was a habit you didn't want to quit." I say and he shrugs and squeezes me before he lays his head back down on the pillow. In spite of myself, I start to feel a little emotional. It's a good sort of emotional, but still. "I need to go for a run."

"And what are you runnin' from at," He looks at the clock. "Six in the mornin'?" I don't look at him. "Darlin'?"

"I caught feelings." I say like it's a dirty word. "So I need to go and sweat to remind myself of how manly I am."

"Darlin', I hate to break it to you, but you couldn't pass for a man." He says and I look at him dubiously. His look changes. "What feelings did you catch? I am a doctor, ya know."

"This feels normal." I say and he watches me, apparently waiting for me to continue. "Normal in the way that this is what I always wanted. I got the best sleep last night."

"I'm pretty great." He says, making me roll over so that he can hold me close that way. I roll my eyes. "It does feel normal. We can give Jim to Troian and I'll take you. How's that sound?"

"As nice as that does sound, I think we'll just have to stick to the occasional sleepover." I say and he kisses me. "No amount of kissing is going to change my mind."

"That sounded like a challenge." He says and then he shakes his head. "I don't know what's wrong with me, usually I can contain this a little better."

"I'm pretty great." I say, turning his words back on him. "It's probably the thing I was saying last week. We're a real couple. Staying together at your parents house for a family Christmas thing."

"That's probably it." He agrees and then he kisses me again. "But I don't hate it." I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest. "I am glad ya came. I was worried that you were gonna try to hang back because of what happened last time." He's tracing patterns on my back again.

"The thought crossed my mind." I admit. "What if she says the mean things to my face this time?" I'm joking mostly. "I can talk my way out of most situations. If not, I guess we could end up on one of those classic Jerry Springer type shows. Man's new, younger girlfriend kicks his ex-wife's butt on Christmas Eve." That has him laughing.

"That's only funny because I know you'd never do that. Sullivan though? I wouldn't put it past her." He says and I shake my head.

"She would get her attention. I don't think it will be a problem. Joanna likes me and she has some obligation to remain civil because I don't think Joanna would like it very much if she was directly mean to us. She's got that southern belle, bless your heart thing down to an art." I sigh.

"I'm sorry we've got to deal with this, Darlin'." He says and I lean back and blink at him a few times.

"You're sorry that your ex-wife is jealous of your new girlfriend and so she says mean things? Leonard. Shut up." I cuddle back up to him. "You get all of the free passes where your family is concerned."

"The only thing he's ever done to me is make ya think that bein' with me isn't a good idea." He says and I sigh. "Darlin'. I think we do need to do yoga. We're more worked up than I thought."

"Okay." I say with a smile. "I appreciate that you're entertaining the idea and trying it at least."

"It might end up bein' a problem someday, but I really can't say no to you." He says as he releases me and gets up.

"Sometimes you'll complain about it the whole time, but you'll do it." I say and he shrugs. I get up and step a certain way and my back pops in three places. "Oh my god, that felt amazing."

"You need to see a chiropractor." He grumbles and I stick my tongue out at him. "That's it, I'm gonna get licensed."

"Oh no." I say, wiggling my fingers in my supposed fear. "Why don't you get licensed as a massage therapist?"

"If you want me to rub ya down with oil, all you had to do was ask." He says and I gape at him. He winks at me.

"We are at your parents house, you cannot say things like that. I will literally die of embarrassment if anyone overhears something like that." I say and he laughs as he comes over and hugs me.

"I'm sorry, but you left yourself open for it. Rookie mistake." He says and I roll my eyes. "Alright, teach me your ways."

* * *

"Well there's your little homewrecker, Leonard." Rachel says and I feel my eyebrows shoot up.

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" I ask, my tone remaining perfectly neutral. Leonard, however, looks incredibly nervous.

"I said, you're a homewrecker." She looks incredibly satisfied with herself. "You're so young and you think you-"

"I'm going to stop you right there. I am not going to have a conversation like this in front of Joanna because she doesn't need to see it. However, if you would like to give me ten minutes, I would be more than happy to calmly speak with you out of her presence." I use my training. That is the only thing I can do right now to stay calm and not lose my temper.

"I'll tell you where you can put your ten minutes. Why don't you go back to whatever dump you call home and leave this family alone." She says, remaining indignant.

"Ms. Hampton," I say evenly. "Seeing as though you are not willing to cooperate, I am going to remove myself from this situation. I hope you have a Merry Christmas." I turn and I go back upstairs. I hear someone follow after me. I glance over my shoulder, it's Andrew. "I hope you're not opposed to climbing out a window if you plan on following me, because I almost lost my cool there." I step into my and Leonard's room and grab my hand wraps.

"We'll go through my room, it's better for climbin'." He says as he leads the way. He opens the window and climbs out onto the overhang. "I haven't done this since I was seventeen."

"Don't hurt yourself, old man." I say as I climb out. He rolls his eyes as he climbs down. I follow suit and he spots me. We head for the barn. He flips the lights on and I put my wraps on and go over to the punching bag. He holds it. "This is more violent than I'd like, but Leonard might have a heart attack if he spotted me jogging off."

"I think you're right." He says and I lay into the punching bag, trying to get that feeling of pent up energy to go away. "As things are, he might get a little nervous if he goes upstairs and we aren't there."

"He knows you wouldn't let me run off." I say, smiling a little in spite of what I'm feeling. "This is bull shit. I know I'm not a homewrecker. Their divorce was literally finalized before he even knew I existed." I land a powerful kick. "I think I'm the most angry that she did that in front of Joanna."

"Heaven knows that girl doesn't need to see any more of that. Leonard never raises his voice around her, but there's a reason we call her the harpy." He says and I nod. I throw a last punch and I don't draw my hand back.

"The first time Marcus cheated on me…I approached him like that. I thought I was hot shit because I caught him and that was the first time he beat the shit out of me. I told him I was leaving and he did not accept that." I take a breath before I start punching again. "I thought he was going to kill me, but that wasn't even the worst time." The tears are starting to well up in my eyes. "I'm sorry it's you I have to tell this to, but this is how I'm going to stop feeling this violent."

"You're not tellin' me anything I've never heard from someone I've helped." He says and I nod. "Don't even worry about it."

"It was stupid. I was stupid. I should have packed a bag that night and ran as far away as I possibly could." I say and I throw a knee. "I didn't have kids to look after. I had friends in town."

"But he promised he wouldn't do it again, right?" He asks and I nod. "And you bought it because it was all you'd ever known."

"I turned eighteen and he moved me out of my abusive father's house. Of course I stayed." I shake my head. "I was too pretty. If he didn't treat me that way, I was going to turn into a slut. And then, once Marcus finally had me right where he wanted me, I wasn't pretty enough. I was too fat. If my hair was short, I looked like a lesbian. I looked like a slob if I didn't have a full face of make up on." I throw a punch and that one stings a bit. I back off and shake out my hands. "And I bought it. We turned twenty-one and I quickly found out that alcohol took away those bad feelings for a while." I come back in and start throwing jabs and crosses again. "I can't completely condemn that part in my life because if not for that, I would have truly had all hooks sank in. I got pregnant but since I was so underweight, I didn't have a regular cycle to realize that I was late and since I drank so much, I miscarried. It's in my medical record, but I've never actually talked about this out loud. I know he knows, but we've never needed to talk about it." More tears well up and fall down my cheeks. "I don't want to cry anymore, Andrew. Because it feels like if I start crying now, I'm not going to stop."

"It might feel that way, but I don't think you'll stop feelin' how you are if you don't." He says and I know he's right. "I'm not Leonard, but a McCoy hug is pretty great no matter who it is." I let out a little laugh. Then I hear the yelling and the tears take over. He walks over and hugs me and that breaks the dam. I'm not a loud crier thankfully. The yelling is getting closer. I step away from Andrew, take off my wraps and toss them on the ground before I dry my face with the hem of my shirt and I head out of the barn.

"That is enough." I say in my best, scary even tone. Leonard lets out the breath he had taken in. "Leonard, take a walk. Now." I turn to Rachel. "And you need to compose yourself. The two of you are adults, you need to communicate as such for the sake of your daughter. Now we are going to go our separate ways and cool off and then we need to sit down and have a grown-up conversation. No yelling. Because that is not how you communicate with another person."

"Alright." Leonard says and he looks at me. He wants to ask me if I'm alright. I know you can tell I've been crying. "Rachel?"

"Yeah." She says and then she turns and walks away. Andrew walks out of the barn with his hands in his pockets.

"I'll let you two have some time alone in there." He says as he walks away. I head back in there, Leonard follows me. I see that Andrew set my wraps on the table in the corner. I take a deep breath and press my palms against my eyes.

"I wasn't crying because of what she said, I was crying because of the memories it dragged up. I may have traumatized your brother. He insisted I didn't tell him anything he hadn't heard before, but I'm still worried." I say and I feel his arms go around me. This isn't a him comforting me sort of thing. I hold him tight.

"As much of a pain in the ass as you can be, you never, and I mean never, push on my temper at all." He says, his voice a little hoarse. "Are you alright?" Am I?

"I'm a little upset with myself for almost losing my temper." I say honestly. "And this dragged up feelings I thought I dealt with a long time ago. I really want a shot." I shake my head. "The thing I'm the most angry about is how she did that right in front of Joanna. Is she okay?"

"She's fine, she and Momma went for a drive." He says and I'm incredibly grateful for that. He takes a step back and he takes my hands and looks at them. I split open one of my knuckles and bruises are already forming. "Darlin', I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I say and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "I figured you might have a heart attack if you saw me jog off somewhere, so I elected to torture the poor punching bag."

"She was hopin' you'd run for the hills." He says and I roll my eyes. He pulls me back into his arms, but again, I'm the one doing the comforting. "I was scared you might."

"Then you don't know me at all." I say and his arms tighten. "The only thing that would make me run from you is if Marcus endangered your family. Specifically Joanna, but I'd be pretty upset if something happened to Andrew as well." I'm trying to lighten my mood by joking. "Leonard, I love you and even if we don't work out, I will probably love you for the rest of my life. It's weird and terrifying at the same time because part of my brain thinks that this is some sort of unhealthy attachment, but the rational part of my brain doesn't really think it is? I don't know, there's a lot going on up there right now. And for some reason the Klingon alphabet keeps popping in there too." I shake my head. "The point is, as long as we operate within the parameters of our relationship. Meaning, one, we don't get sick of each other and two, your family is not endangered, I am going to be part of your life and she's going to have to get over that."

"You're amazing." He says and then he's kissing me. "And I love you." He kisses me again. "And we've talked about this, the second parameter isn't an actual thing. It's not gonna happen, but I'm not lettin' you run away from me. You've got to be legitimately sick of me. You've got to submit forms and I need at least a thirty-page dissertation on why you're sick of me."

"With your jokes? Thirty pages would be easy." I say and he just sighs and I start laughing. New tears spring to my eyes. "Can we have one Christmas where there isn't drama?"

"We can try again next year." He says and then he kisses my forehead. "You were kiddin' about thirty pages bein' easy, right?"

"Yes, Leonard, I was kidding." I sigh then. "How long does she typically take to cool off? I could really use a nap now."

"Unfortunately, there's a very slim window in which you can actually get rational thought out of her." He says and I shake my head. "I know, but it's how I wasn't sentenced to death in the divorce papers."

"You must have had a really shitty lawyer." I say with a laugh. "Alright, we'll go back inside, clean up my hands, and then we can settle in to talk. I am calm." With a final deep breath, this is true. I take his hand and we walk out of the barn to see Lucille and Joanna walking towards us. Joanna is wide-eyed and carrying a bouquet of flowers. "Hey, Chickadee, what's up?"

"I'm sorry." She says in a small voice. I go over and I hug her. I put into my hug everything I wish that someone would have given me whenever I witnessed my parents arguing. The flowers leave her hands and she steps closer to me.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I promise." I say and then I feel the tears starting to get my shirt wet. "It's okay." I stroke her hair. "I brought you something, do you want to go inside and check it out?"

"Sure." She says and then she looks around and sees that her dad has the flowers. She takes them back. "These are for you."

"They're beautiful." I say as I accept them from her. The four of us start walking towards the house. She reaches for my hand with the split knuckle. "Ope, watch out Sweetie, I bumped my hand earlier." I switch sides and take her hand with the one that isn't bleeding.

"Hey Ollie, you do say it." Leonard says and I shoot him a look. "So much for not havin' any Midwestern verbal tics."

"Daddy, be nice." Joanna says and I make a face at him. "You and Momma, I swear." The sass is real. "And you better take good care of her hand."

"Yes ma'am." He says with a tired smile. "Is there any way I can get the two of ya to forgive me?"

"It's probably gonna cost you some ice cream." I say and Joanna nods. "Probably sundaes, with all of the appropriate toppings."

"You ladies drive a hard bargain, but I'll see what I can come up with." He says and Joanna's smile returns. "We are gonna have to have a talk with your Momma though." She's tense again.

"Don't you worry at all. Have I ever told you about what I'm going to do once your dad and I graduate?" I ask and she shakes her head. "It's going to be my job to help people better understand each other so that we don't have to fight with people we want to be friends with." We reach the house and Lucille takes the flowers from me.

"I'll get these in a nice vase and then we can put 'em in your room." She says and I smile brightly.

"That's going to be great to wake up to." I say and that brings Joanna's smile back again. Lucille does as she said and Leonard takes the vase from her before we take Joanna upstairs. I notice he also has a first aid kit.

"And where would you like your flowers, Darlin'?" He asks and I look around the room, pretending to think about it.

"How about right on the nightstand?" I suggest and he goes over and sets them down. I look at my bloody knuckle before I sit in the chair in the corner and pull Joanna into my lap. "Alright, Dr. McCoy, show the future Dr. McCoy how it's done."

"That's a great idea." He flips on the light before he walks over and kneels down in front of us. "First thing you wanna do is clean up around the wound so that it doesn't get infected." He opens one of the antiseptic pads and I hold my hand out. I smile as she places her hand under mine to help hold it steady. "Thank you." He gently cleans the area. "Now that I can see that it is just what we call an abrasion. That means that it's not deep, the skin just got scraped off."

"Like when I fell off the swing last time." She says and he nods at her. "Oh, Daddy, it's bloody again."

"It's alright." He says as he wipes it up again. "Now, we want to apply some of this stuff to help it heal better. It also has some stuff in it to help it not hurt if it is hurtin'." He says as he applies the cream. "Finally, we're gonna put a bandage on it. We've got a neat one that'll not come off when she moves her hands. He opens the bandage and he puts it on. "And we're done. It's as easy as that."

"You're not done." She says, sounding incredibly sassy. "You've gotta kiss it, Daddy." I contain my smile as I look at Leonard expectantly.

"Of course, how could I forget?" Leonard takes my hand and gives it a kiss before he stands and places a kiss on my forehead. "Now we're done."

"What's the forehead kiss for, Daddy?" She asks and I smile as he pretends to think about it.

"It's to let the patient know that everything is gonna be okay. Though, I only recommend you do that with people you're really close to." He says and then he thinks about it. "And not until you're twenty-five."

"That's a wee bit hypocritical." I whisper and Joanna giggles. "Alright, now time for your surprise." She slides off of my lap and I go over to my bag and take out the little box I packed them in. We sit down on the bed and Leonard goes off to throw things away and wash his hands. I open the box and pull out the bracelet I made. "Ta-da!"

"That's so pretty!" She exclaims as she takes it and looks at it. "Did you make this for me!?"

"I did." I say with a smile. I pull my matching one out. "And I made one for myself too. They're friendship bracelets."

"No. Way." She says, looking at me very seriously. I smile and her expression falls a little bit. "You're not gonna leave, are ya?"

"Well, after New Year's, your dad and I have to go back to San Francisco." I say and she shakes her head.

"I mean…you and Daddy are together, right? Like you kiss and stuff?" She asks and I nod slowly. "You're not gonna leave Daddy since Momma was mean to you, right?"

"I'm not going anywhere." I say and she looks relieved. "Sometimes people need a little help learning to understand each other. I hope that your mom and I can understand each other better."

"I do too." She says softly. "I love you, Miss Ollie." I successfully hold back my emotion at that. I smile.

"I love you too, Joanna. I really do." I say and she hugs me. "And I love your dad a lot, so it really means a lot to me that you love me too."

"Daddy looks so happy when you're around." She says and I lean my head against hers as I stroke her hair.

"He might look pretty happy, but I have never seen him smile more than when he gets to see you. And when we're not here and he's telling me about the stories you tell him? My goodness. He can't stop smiling." I say and she smiles. "You are the light of his life, Joanna."

"Oh! You know how your friends call you Ollie? Well my new friends at school started calling me Jojo! So I want you to call me that too! Since we're friends." She says and then she slides on her bracelet. I put mine on as well.

"Alright then, Jojo it is." I say and then I notice Leonard leaning against the door frame. "Oh, hey."

"Hey." He says with a smile. "You and Mamaw are gonna go and pick out the ice cream stuff." She looks at me, worried.

"I have everything under control." I say and she doesn't look worried anymore. If I can convince a nine-year-old, I might be able to do this for real. The three of us head downstairs and Rachel gives Joanna a hug before she leaves with Lucille. "Let's have a seat at the dining room table." I take command and lead the way in there. They sit across from each other and I make a decision and sit at the head of the table. "If I were overseeing a meeting between combatant tribes, I would insist that we lay all weapons out on the table. Do we have any weapons?" I'm going for funny and Leonard's lip twitches.

"No, Lieutenant." He says and then he sighs. "Rachel, this has got to stop." It's not hostile, it's truth. "You and I have been done for a long time and you know that." She doesn't like that part.

"Okay, I'm going to stop you there." I say and he looks at me. "It's not fair of you to assume anything. Yeah, you guys are divorced, but that doesn't mean that there can't be any feelings left."

"She's right." She says and I'm a little surprised. She looks at me. "I apologize for what I said earlier."

"I forgive you." I say and her eyebrows furrow together. "I don't know your guys' whole story and I don't need to know the whole story." I fold my hands in front of me on top of the table. "I feel like a lot of the issue with all of this," I gesture to the three of us before I lay my hand back down. "is that we don't really understand each other. Or more, we don't understand you. Though that goes into a whole thing with a them versus us mentality which is not healthy, but that's not my point." I take a breath.

"I just don't get it." She says and I see the frustration, but she pushes it back down. "He and I are done and he runs off to do whatever. Then he comes back to see his daughter and he has you and there is literally nothin' that I can find wrong with you. You're sweet and funny and you are a great baker. It pisses me off." I find that funny, but I don't show it. "And he is suddenly this sensitive, caring, family-oriented man? It's not fair." She looks up at the ceiling, but I see the tears in her eyes. "That was supposed to be who he was for me."

"Rachel." Leonard says evenly. "We didn't work for a myriad of reasons. You and I just don't mesh well together personality wise. I'm findin' out that I've been these things all along, we just don't bring that out in each other."

"But she does?" She asks and he looks at me. I maintain my neutral expression, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

"Yeah. She does. When I feel like I'm not enough, she doesn't pick apart what I've done wrong. She tells me what I've done right." He says and I suddenly feel like I shouldn't be part of this conversation. "Hell, I literally sat there one day, tearin' myself apart for bein' a terrible father to Joanna. You know what she told me? That what matters is what I'm doin' now to be a better father. To be a better man, damn it." He sits back in his seat. "You and I were meant to be together for one purpose, and it's that beautiful little girl. Olivia is gonna be in my life for as long as she'll have me and that's somethin' you're gonna have to either accept or just sit there and be pissed off quietly." She sits for a moment, somewhat stunned.

"And there is nothin' I can say that'll make you want to take me back?" She asks and he shakes his head.

"No. I respect you as the mother of my daughter, but I am not in love with you Rachel. I haven't been for four years." He says and I really feel like I shouldn't be here now.

"Okay." She says and a few tears slide down her cheek. I reach over and grab a tissue and hand it to her. "Thank you." She wipes her eyes and then she looks at me. "Are you even really a human?"

"I get asked that more than you probably realize." I say and that makes her laugh. I smile. "I've dealt with a lot of shit. More shit than someone my age should have gone through. I got tired of fighting and so I do my best to not have to fight."

"Yeah, then what'd you do to your knuckle? Punch a wall?" She asks and I flex my hand and chuckle.

"Actually, boxing. Andrew and I climbed out of his bedroom window and I went to work out some aggression." I say and then I shake my head. "None of it was directed at you. I was upset with you, but only because we were in front of Joanna. I'm not a mother, I've technically never been a mother, and I don't know if I will be, but I've been a daughter who had to watch her parents go at it. Luckily, Leonard is an amazing man and he'd never do half the stuff I've seen, but it just made me think of a lot of stuff that I thought I dealt with completely, but I've got work to do." It's probably a bit excessive to explain that much, but I want her to understand me and it is part of my story.

"I'm sorry. I guess I really don't know the first thing about you." She says and I wave it away.

"I can see why you would immediately dislike me." I say, thinking on it. "Some twenty-three-year-old kid comes for Christmas the first year he's away. We weren't together at that point, he just brought me because I was nervous about being on my own like I would have been."

"You're only twenty-four now?" She asks and then she shakes her head, slightly amused. "I guess his type is younger women."

"I guess it's lucky for me that it's pretty weird if he goes any younger." I say and that makes her laugh. "He's the same age as my older brother and he did not like him at first."

"I like to think he came around pretty fast." He says and I look at him and smile. "Joshua and I have an understanding."

"I didn't know about this." I say as I rest my chin in my hand. "Is it something along the lines of, 'if you hurt my baby sister, I'll string you from a flagpole by your testicles'?"

"That's not the one I'm referrin' to, but that has been said." He says and I roll my eyes. "That's the thing about the two of you, you can be incredibly graphic with your threats." He shakes his head. "Anyway, have we come to an understanding?"

"Yeah. We're divorced, we're done." Rachel says as she sits back in her chair again. "I'm not gonna cause trouble and I'm not gonna keep Joanna from you." She looks at me then. "She is crazy about you."

"I'm crazy about her too. She's the best." I say with a smile. "Now, if you guys will excuse me, I need to go and make a call." I get up and head back upstairs. I don't really need to make a call, but it sounded like a good excuse. I kick off my shoes after closing the door and sit down cross-legged on the bed for some deep breathing exercises. I straighten my posture and rest my hands on my legs and close my eyes. I focus on my breathing and being present in my moment. After a little while the door opens.

"She's gone, you don't have to hide anymore." Leonard says and I just smile. "Are you alright?" I open my eyes and look at him.

"I'm as alright as I ever am." I say and he comes over and sits down beside me. "Maybe her telling me to go back home affected me more than I realized."

"She's good at that." He says as he lays back and pulls me with him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I kind of already did with Andrew. I think what's bothering me the most right now is that the miscarriage I had three years ago popped up for whatever reason." I say and I feel him nod. "I think at some point I might want to be a mom…just so I can show a kid what I never had from my parents. Just to prove that cycles can be broken."

"You know where I stand with that. If you do and we are together, we can." He says as he traces patterns on my lower back. "As far as the miscarriage…havin' that baby woulda killed you."

"I know. And if it didn't, I would have been stuck there." I say and then I think about it. "For a while longer anyway." I look at him then. "So how much younger than you is Rachel?"

"Three years." He says with a roll of his eyes. "And it is not that I'm into younger women. It's just worked out that way."

"I believe you." I say and then I wrap my arms around him. "I don't see myself getting sick of this."

"Me either, especially if you say you wanna keep lookin' like this into your sixties." He says and I laugh. "Darlin', that incredible ass of yours has only gotten better."

"I might outgrow incredible one of these days." I say in fake astonishment. "We need to start coming up with better words now so that we're prepared." I pretend to think. "What about stupendous? Or marvelous? Asstonishing?" I gasp. "Legendary." That has him cracking up.

* * *

I reach the bottom of the stairs and Leonard meets me and takes my hand. He does the thing where he spins me.

"Good God, woman, you're tryin' to kill me." He says and I give him a skeptical look. "As pretty as you look in red, the green really brings out your eyes. I'm not sure what to focus on."

"How about you keep your eyes up here." I say, pointing to my eyes. "This is your family's Christmas party. You're incorrigible."

"We already had this talk, Darlin'. That's not gonna change." He says as he brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. I roll my eyes. "Now, Easton went and got himself a girlfriend."

"So you want me to help you embarrass him?" I ask and he shrugs, looking innocent. "I don't know, he made me feel really uncomfortable last year. I don't want another girl to go through that."

"How'd he make you uncomfortable?" He asks, eyebrows furrowing together. I roll my eyes.

"I was probably looking too much into it, but he said 'this one is sweet'. So my brain was like, well obviously he's referring to the ex-wife." I say and he rolls his eyes.

"I'm sorry that made ya uncomfortable. You are sweet though." He says as he pulls me in and kisses me.

"Hey, there will be none of that." I say as I lean back to escape his lips. "No such kissing in common areas." I take a step back and take his hand off of my waist. "I will get a spray bottle." He laughs. It's good to see him in such a good mood, especially after the day before last.

"It's a rare time where you don't have some sort of split lip. I need to take advantage of this little vacation." He says and I give him a look.

"Hey Lucille? Do you happen to have a spray bottle?" I ask as I walk towards the kitchen. She looks up at me as I walk in and she laughs.

"Is that son of mine comin' after ya since you look so pretty?" She asks and we laugh. "Leonard, behave yourself!" She shakes her head. "His daddy is just as bad. So he'll probably get worse the longer you're together."

"Oh boy, and we're only coming up on year one." I say and she smiles. "There are worse things." She hums. "Now what can I help with?"

"I have a very important job for you, actually." She says as she comes over and takes my hands. "I want you…to go out there…and enjoy this Christmas party. You gave me so much help yesterday and this mornin'. Go."

"I'm not going to give up on trying to get you to let me help you more." I say and she smiles a placating smile.

"Of course, Sweetheart. Go on ahead." She says as she pats my cheek. "Go keep that son of mine out of trouble." I give an exasperated look, but I go back out. People are arriving and Thomas is there greeting everyone as they come in. I spot Leonard talking with Malachi and walk over, he places his arm around my waist, pauses what he was saying and kisses my cheek before he goes back to it. I smile.

"Olivia, radiant as always." Malachi says and I keep my amused expression as I shake his hand. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." I say and then I hear Easton and look over, holding the hand of a girl who's a little taller than me. She looks a bit overwhelmed.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce ya to Amalie Bisset. Ali, these are my friends Leonard, his girlfriend Olivia, and then that's Malachi." He says as he nods to us respectively.

"It's great to meet you." I say with a bright smile as I shake her hand. "Don't worry about it, Easton is the worst between the three of them, so you've got it easy." Malachi laughs at that.

"She's right. Leo and I are harmless." He says as he shakes her hand as well. I raise my eyebrow at that.

"Maybe not harmless, but Olivia has a way of makin' people behave." Leonard shakes her hand.

"It is very nice to meet you all." She says and I place her accent as French. I've found how I'll help her if I need to rescue her. "Easton tells me that the two of you pursuing careers at Starfleet? That must be very exciting."

"When your five-foot-two girlfriend starts teachin' ya Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I'd say so." Leonard says and I roll my eyes at him.

"You admit that so confidently." She says and then she looks to me. "You must be quite the fighter if he can do that."

"I'm getting better." I agree with a nod. "But he makes it sound glamourous. Right now it's pretty much just advanced college. And I'm okay with that, I'm a glutton for research."

"That does sound like it would be interesting." She says with a smile. "What are you studying? I know that Leonard is a doctor…"

"I'm part of a new mediation program. Starfleet is a peacekeeping organization, but some of the higherups can be hotheads and so they're training a bunch of us to be able to go in and negotiate." I say and she nods. "So I have to study various languages and cultures from planets within the Federation and those who we would like to be friends with."

"She's got quite the ear for them. How many do you speak, Darlin'?" Leonard asks and I give him a look.

"I only fluently know," I start, trying to think. "four Terran languages and three or four others. The most important part will be recognizing the languages and then remembering what won't offend them." I almost said 'get us killed', but that seems a little too intense for a Christmas party.

"Do you speak French?" She asks in her native tongue and Leonard looks at me. We don't really talk about all of the languages I speak.

"Yes, it's actually my favorite, but I don't think that I do it justice." I respond as such and Leonard raises his eyebrows.

"It is disgusting how many things I know is goin' through that man's head right now." Malachi says and Leonard turns and has his grumpy look on. I turn back to Ali.

"Don't worry about them. They've all known each other since they were boys. Some men never grow out of it." I say with a roll of my eyes. "Especially this one." I gesture with my thumb towards Leonard who is eyeing me warily. She laughs.

"No, Easton warned me that it would probably be a bit much." She says, switching back to English. That has me laughing.

"I got no such warning. Though I wasn't dating Leonard when I met them." I say and Easton makes a face like he disagrees. "And what could you possibly have to say?"

"You may not have been official, but you two were together." He says and I roll my eyes. "Leonard McCoy doesn't like anyone."

"No, I think he just has a type of friend he attracts." I say thoughtfully. "Like these two guys he has study dates with all the time. Fairchild and Grace. I swear, it's like talking to the two of you, minus the potential for embarrassing stories."

"I've been meanin' to send ya that one I was thinkin' about." Easton says and Leonard is grumpy again. "So what were you ladies talkin' about?"

"Oh, I was just talking about how muscle-y and dreamy Leonard is." I say, my tone denoting that it definitely was not what I was talking about. "Did you know he calls himself Dr. Biceps?" Malachi nearly falls over, he laughs so hard.

"You're in trouble." Leonard says, but his expression says that I'm anything but in trouble. "Her friends are weird."

"Olivia was just reassuring me, which I appreciate, no need to worry, Leonard." She says and I smile. Then Joanna runs up and hugs me.

"Hey Jojo!" I exclaim as I wrap my arms around her and rock back in forth. She's laughing.

"There's my girl." Leonard says and she hugs him as well. "If you'll excuse us." He lifts her up and puts his arm around me before he walks away. "You had to tell 'em about Dr. Biceps."

"If I didn't, Andrew was going to." I say and then I glance back to make sure Ali is alright. She seems okay. "Where are we going?"

"To get the two of ya somethin' to eat." He sets Joanna down and we go through and get our plates before we snag three seats. "Where's your Momma?"

"She and Mamaw are talkin'. She told me to come find ya." She says and I can tell that something is off. "I don't want you guys to go back."

"We've still got an entire week left here." I say as I put my hand over hers. "So we'll start there, and then we'll deal with the rest when we get there."

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Leonard says and I see him thinking. "Do you know why I'm doin' this?"

"Because you want to help people." She says and he smiles. "Can I come visit you guys? I want to meet Miss Troian."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm not gonna make any promises because I don't want ya to get your heart set on somethin' and it not work out, but I'm gonna try." He says and that lights up her mood entirely.

"I need to borrow Olivia for a minute." Andrew says as he comes up. He looks a little freaked out.

"Sure, no problem." I place my napkin on my chair and I follow after him. He goes out onto the porch and he has one hand on his chin and another on his hip as he walks towards the swing. "What's going on?"

"You're not to breathe a word of this." He says very seriously and I contain my amusement as I nod. "So…I invited a girl here tonight. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it…but she's on her way right now."

"That's good news, what do you need me for?" I ask and he looks desperately into my eyes. "Holy shit, you've got it bad for her, don't you? What's her name? How'd you meet?" I sit down on the swing. "Give me details, man."

"She's a friend of a friend. Her name's Harper." He says as he sits down as well. "I deserve it for as much shit as I've given most of the people in that house right now, but I'm freakin' out."

"Just relax. I'll run interference." I say reassuringly. "I owe you one anyway." He visibly relaxes. "You wouldn't have invited her here if it weren't more than just a little crush, would you?"

"I can't tell her no." He says like that's the worst thing in the world. "She got me to go to hot yoga with her." I laugh. "Olivia, this is hardly the time."

"I guess it must be once a McCoy can't tell a woman no, she's the one." I stand up. "Don't worry, I've got your back Andrew. Now I'm going to get back to my meal. I was starting to get hangry." He looks worried. "Just play it cool. Why don't you come and sit with us?"

"Yeah, okay." He agrees and I lead the way back inside. I take my seat and he tickles Joanna and kisses all over her face before he sits down.

"What was that about Uncle Andy? You looked really scared." She says after she relaxes from trying to stop being tickled.

"A Klingon telemarketer was tryin' to sell me somethin' and I just could not get him to accept no as an answer, so I borrowed Miss Ollie's knowledge." He says and she narrows her eyes at him. I chuckle.

"Don't worry about it, Jojo. I'll tell you later." I say and she looks incredibly excited about that. Leonard has an eyebrow raised. "Don't worry about it."

"Why's she get to know and I don't?" He sounds a little indignant and she lets out a giggle.

"Because, it's girl talk." I say with a shrug. "No boys allowed. I don't make the rules, I just enforce them."

"Enforce them." He scoffs and that has Joanna giggling again. "We'll just see about that." Andrew checks his messages and he goes pale. "Boy, what is wrong with you?"

"Andrew." I say and he looks me in the eye. "I've got your back." He nods, gets up and goes outside again. "He invited a girl." I whisper and Leonard raises his eyebrows. "Her name is Harper and he can't tell her no."

"It's serious." Joanna gasps. "Papaw always says that's when he knew he wanted to marry Mamaw. Daddy, we've gotta help him!"

"Shh." I say, leaning in conspiratorially. "All you've got to do is be yourself, Jojo. We've just got to be sweet as we always are and stick close so no one will want to come and put a damper on that."

"Corruptin' my daughter." Leonard shakes his head. "But alright, I'll bite. I can run interference on Malachi. Easton's behavin' since Ali's here. He owes me though."

"That's between the two of you." I say and then I finish the last of my mashed potatoes. I see that Joanna is finished with her plate, so I stack it with mine and stand up.

"Uncle Andy!" She exclaims as she jumps up and runs over to leap into his arms like she usually does, only this time, she's turned on the extra cute charm.

"Damn." I say, impressed. "You McCoys really pick it up young, don't you?" I ask as I look to my boyfriend who is just shaking his head. He stands up, takes the plates from me and gives me an almost inappropriate kiss before he strolls into the kitchen. I look over and see Andrew, Joanna, and Harper walking towards us.

"And here we have probably the scariest person in the house, Olivia Gray, she's my brother's girlfriend. Olivia, this is my friend Harper Holloway." He says as they walk up.

"I'm only scary if you push my buttons." I say as I offer my hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Harper." She shakes my hand.

"Likewise, I've actually heard a little bit about you. Andrew tells me that you guys are pretty good friends." She says and I look at him and pretend to size him up.

"He's alright….for my boyfriend's brother. Joanna and I saved his life this summer. It was pretty amazing." I say and the little girl grins.

"I still owe the two of you ice cream. They ran me into the ground in a pick up game of tag and then little Dr. McCoy over here figured out that lemonade would save my life. Then Nurse Ollie got it real quick and here we are today." He explains, gesturing grandly. Harper laughs. Oh boy, she is incredibly into him as well. Leonard walks up and slips his arm around my waist. "Harper, this is Leonard."

"It's very nice to meet you, Harper." Leonard shakes her hand and he actually behaves. "We're glad you could make it."

"Me too. A couple of my kids had an emergency and so I had to pick them up and place them in a new foster home." She says with a shake of her head. "But they're safe and warm and stuffed with turkey and cookies." That's more for her. "I'm sorry, work comes home with me more than I realize before I start talking."

"Don't worry about it." I say, waving that away. "He brings my work back to regular conversation more than I would like. So it sounds like you're a social worker?"

"Yes." She agrees with a smile. "What do you do that Leonard is so proud of?" I hadn't thought of it that way…it always just seemed braggy.

"He and I are with Starfleet, I'm currently studying in the mediation program as well as the nursing program." I explain and I see recognition in her eyes.

"That is crazy, I actually considered going into that program." She says and I feel my eyebrows go up. "If this whole social work thing doesn't work out, I might still go for it. They were really leaning on me for it."

"But your heart took you somewhere else, I get it." I say and she smiles. "There are still a lot of problems here that need to be addressed."

"Exactly. I just couldn't bring myself to step away from what I do." She agrees, then she laughs. "Sorry we kind of just started ignoring you boys." Andrew smiles.

"No, I love hearin' you talk about your work." He says and he means it. He clears his throat then and runs a hand through his hair, a hand going to his hip. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am." She smiles at him and I see him relax. "We'll catch up with you guys later?"

"Yes! For dessert! Miss Ollie helped Mamaw make everything!" Joanna exclaims and then she giggles. "Then she kept Daddy and Uncle Andy from tryin' to steal cookies. She whacked Uncle Andy with a spoon."

"I warned him three times, which is two more times than I warn unruly, hot-headed cadets." I say with a shrug. "Leonard almost caught the spoon too."

"Look, you made those peanut butter cookies last year and it seems like it's gonna only be a once a year thing and I'm a weak man." He says and I laugh.

"If you want me to make them, all you had to do was ask." I say and he gives me a look. "A weak man." I laugh. "You're funny. But anyway, go eat. Everything is delicious." I place my hands on Joanna's shoulders and lead her away with Leonard tailing us.

"He's got it bad, Daddy. You've gotta help him. How do you not be silly around Miss Ollie?" Joanna asks and I shake my head.

"He is silly around me. I don't think there's any helping it." I say and she giggles. "And what do you know about havin' it bad?"

"Elizabeth says that you can tell a guy really likes you by the way he says your name." She says and then her eyes widen and she glances at her dad. I suppress my smile. "What? It's true."

"You have an excellent ear for inflection, Jojo." I say and then I glance over to see them seated at the table, their heads are close together and they're laughing.

"I'm gonna go play with my cousins. Bye!" Joanna says and then she runs off. I look up at Leonard and he shakes his head.

"You gonna be okay?" I ask as I rub his arm. "This no boys until she's twenty-five rule isn't going to work out. One because it's incredibly hypocritical and two because when it happens, it happens. All you can do is be there for her when they inevitably say something stupid."

"Fine, no boys until she's twenty-three." He amends and I give him a look. He suddenly leans in and gives me a kiss before he walks away. I'm confused before I see Malachi headed this way.

"I've been tryin' to keep track of how many times he's smooched ya, but I lost count." Easton says as he and Ali walk up.

"That's an odd thing to keep track of." I say and Ali laughs and then I see her smile over my shoulder.

"Oh, they look like they are very in love." She says and I glance over. Yup, Andrew and Harper. Easton looks over and his eyes briefly dart to Ali. I feel the satisfied smirk on my face.

"Is there somethin' you wanna say, Easton?" I ask and he thinks about it for a moment before he chuckles and shakes his head.

"Naw, I'm happy for the little shit." He says and I smile. "So what's the scoop on her?" I roll my eyes.

"Her name is Harper. She's a friend of a friend. A social worker." I say and then I glance over again.

"God, he flirts just like Leo." Easton rolls his eyes and I raise an eyebrow at him. "You don't recognize some of those moves?"

"I guess I don't." I hum. "My first encounter with him was right before we were leaving for San Francisco and he smelled like a bar and I had a pretty mean black eye. Though I do know now that he was checking me out before I even had the black eye."

"Why on Earth would you have a black eye then?" Ali asks, her eyebrows drawn together.

"It's not that big of a deal." I say, waving it away. "It was a miscalculation on my part." Something changes in her eyes. "So Andrew is basically early twenties Leonard? That's interesting."

"He still hasn't told you about it?" Easton asks and then he laughs. "He was a big flirt, but he's always been faithful."

"I have no worries about that." I smile. I look over and see Leonard looking annoyed. "You might need to help Leonard keep Malachi in line. He's being a good brother right now."

"You're right, it's an easier job as a team." He says and then he takes Ali's hand. "Come on, I'll show ya how to keep any of us in line."

"That seems as though it will be useful." She says and then she smiles to me. "I will talk to you later."

"Okay." I smile and they leave. It's odd that she said it that way. I see a cousin who is also a doctor walking towards Andrew with a look of mischief on his face. I pretend to not be paying attention and I fake a trip right beside him.

"Olivia, are you alright?" His name is…Timothy asks as he places a hand on my waist and on my shoulder. The southern gentleman overriding the ornery family tendency.

"I think I may have twisted my ankle. I'm such a clutz." I roll my eyes at myself. "Don't worry about it, I'll see if I can find Leonard."

"Don't worry about it, he's not the only doctor in the family." He says as he has me lean most of my weight on him. Leonard looks over and looks concerned, I wink at him and he rolls his eyes, but has a proud smirk on his face. We're at the table now, across from Andrew and Harper. I make a show of sitting in the chair.

"Jeez, I'm sorry about this Timothy. You looked like you were busy." I say and Andrew takes he and Harper's empty plates.

"It was nothin' important." He says and I take my black high heel off and he starts feeling around on my ankle. "It's not swellin' up right now. Why don't I grab ya somethin' to drink and you sit down for a minute?"

"That would be great, water please. Thanks. And I'm sorry again." I say and he winks before he heads off to grab me some water. Andrew mouths 'thank you' as he walks past me. He guides Harper away from danger. Lucille is now walking towards me with a bottle of water and a look of concern.

"Sweetheart, Timothy said you tripped? Is everything okay?" She sits down in the chair beside me and takes my hand.

"Everything is fine." I say and then I turn her attention to her youngest son. She smiles. "I'm running interference on family who wants to get him back for all the times he's gotten them."

"That's a tall order." She says and I laugh. "She is very pretty. He didn't mention that it was a girl who was coming."

"He can't tell her no." I say and her smile grows more fond. "He was so nervous before she got here, I thought something was actually wrong."

"Uncle Andy!" Joanna calls from across the room. I look over and see Harper smile as she takes his hand and starts heading that way.

"Oh she is not setting them up." I say as I look to the doorway they'll walk through. She's standing not quite under it, but they're going to stop right under it. "And Leonard said I was corrupting her."

"This has Thomas written all over it." She says with a shake of her head. "He's the one who set you and Leonard up with this last year." Joanna giggles as she points up at the mistletoe. Andrew looks like a deer in headlights again, but Harper, without missing a beat, stands up on her toes and lays a kiss on him. A real kiss.

"She went for it." I say, having all of the respect in the world for this woman. I smile and slip my shoe back on.

"I might cry." She says and I give her hand a squeeze. "I need you to introduce me to her. Make it look real natural."

"Of course, I love these McCoy setups." I say as I stand. We link arms and start heading in that direction. Harper has a big grin on her face and Andrew looks shell-shocked. "Hey Harper, this is Lucille. She's Andrew's mom. If the three of you will excuse me, I need to see my doctor about this ankle of mine." I leave them and head over to where Easton, Ali, and Leonard are desperately trying to keep Malachi's attention. I clear my throat as I walk up. "I've been subtle, Malachi, but I'll level with you. That boy is under my protection and I will end you if you step so much as one toe out of line to embarrass him this evening."

"Damn." He says, his head tilting back a little bit. "She ever talk to you like this?" He looks to Leonard.

"No, but I know another doctor she threatened and he hasn't so much as looked at her since late last February." Leonard says and I shake my head.

"You do not grab my arm and try to get me to have sexy study dates with you." I shake my head. "Anyway, I'm a sucker for love and those two are in love. So yeah, I'll twist you into a pretzel and then toss you in hot cheese."

"I'll behave." He holds his hands out in surrender. "I wondered why these three were tryin' so hard to keep me over here." He thinks about it. "What'd you do to that other doctor?"

"I twisted his arm, shoved him to the ground and threatened to rip his arm off and shove it up his ass if he ever laid a hand on me again." I say with a completely neutral disposition.

"That's my girl." Leonard places a kiss on my cheek. "I may not like it, but she can take care of herself."

"Jailhouse rules." I shrug. "Assert dominance over the bigger guys and then no one else will mess with you. It's very important in my advanced combat classes when you're easily the smallest person in the class."

"What was the most satisfying takedown you ever did?" Ali asks and I look up as I think about it.

"It was a training seminar for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu stuff. I was facing off against literally the biggest, meanest guy there. He had to have been at least six-three and two hundred and twenty pounds. Well I got him into a triangle hold, lost my count and he was too stubborn to tap out, so he passed out." I shrug.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." Ali says, looking incredibly satisfied with that herself. "When I was in university, I was a member of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu club."

"How am I just now hearin' about this?" Easton asks, his eyebrows raised. "Where did you come from?" He kisses her cheek and she smiles.

"It was good seein' you guys. We'll see ya next week." Leonard says, startling me a little as he lifts me into his arms, but I can't get myself to really stir.

"So you are gonna marry her, aren't ya? You have the looks about you." Malachi says and it's quiet for a moment. Why is it so quiet?

"There's some stuff from her past we gotta figure out, but I want to." He says and I try again to make myself actually wake up.

"If it's a guy, do me a favor and pop him. She mentioned somethin' about a black eye when ya met and I figured." Easton says.

"Not unless I have to. She doesn't like that. Good night." Leonard is walking then. I open my eyes finally. We're on the stairs. "Convenient that you wake up as I'm carryin' ya up to bed."

"Why walk when I have my hunky doctor boyfriend to carry me." I say as I wrap my arms around his neck. We reach the top of the stairs and I sigh, but move to get him to set me down. He does. "You can go talk to them some more, I'm just going to take my makeup off and go to sleep."

"Believe me, I'd rather go to sleep with you." He says as he leans in and gives me a kiss. I smile before I sleepy walk to the bathroom. Leonard leans against the doorway, looking amused as I start removing my makeup. "You haven't been this tired in a while."

"It was a long day." I say and then I go about removing the bobby pins from my hair. I run my hands through it. "Do you need somethin'?"

"I just don't get tired of lookin' at ya." He shrugs. I roll my eyes and pat his arm as I slide past him and go to our room. He follows. I go over to the dresser and pull out the shorts and tee shirt I plan on sleeping in. He closes the door.

"You're being weird." I say as I start to change. He walks over, that air about him. "Leonard…" He runs his hand along my side. "We're at your parents house."

"Mhm." He says as he slowly guides my back to the wall. He tilts my chin up. "You've reminded me a lot the past few days."

"These are dangerous moves." I say and he smirks as he leans in and kisses me. This is not how I imagined Christmas Eve this year. Dressed in my shorts and my bra with my back pressed to the wall as my boyfriend tries to make me lose my mind. "I'm going to start changing in a different room again. You clearly can't behave yourself."

"Do you want me to behave myself?" He asks and I purse my lips as I think about it. "I'm sorry, Darlin'." He gives me one last kiss before he lets me go. I eye him warily before I put my shirt on before I take off my bra. I throw it at him. He winks as he catches it and sets it with the rest of my clothes.

"Santa is watching you, Dr. McCoy." I climb into bed and cover myself up. He chuckles and changes before he climbs in and pulls me into his arms. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Darlin'." He says as he kisses my cheek. "Are you mad?" I roll over and place my arms around his neck.

"Mad that I don't want to do that here." I say and he gets that smirk again. I roll my eyes before I snuggle up to him. "And Leonard?" He hums. "I'd probably say yes." I close my eyes. He leans back presumably to look at me.

"Darlin'?" He asks and I pretend that I'm asleep. "Olivia?" He tilts my chin up. "I know you're fakin' it. What would you say yes to?" I probably shouldn't have said that.

* * *

 _*"Por qué no ambos"- Why not both? I hope this reminds you of that taco shell commercial where the little girl says this and they have a fiesta, because that is absolutely why I say it._


	11. Fifth-Wheeling

_Welcome to chapter_ eleven _!_

* * *

"So, I've got some pretty big news from Georgia." I say and Tro hums as she continues to paint my toenails. "Christmas Eve, I fell asleep when we were talking with his friends. I stirred when he picked me up to carry me to bed and I kind of accidentally overheard that he wants to marry me?" She pauses and looks up at me.

"And how do you feel about that?" She asks, her tone sounding cautious. I take a drink of my tea.

"I feel good about it. I'd probably say yes." I say and she nods before she goes back, moving onto my other foot. "There was this whole thing with his ex-wife and after that, I realized that he's the sort of man I would want to be with that way."

"Wait, a whole thing?" She finishes my pinky toe and then she looks up at me again. "Why didn't I hear about this sooner?"

"Because you would have come there and probably fed her intestines to her like spaghetti." I say and she raises her eyebrows. "It was only one big thing, but she called me a homewrecker and it escalated pretty fast. I almost lost my temper, but I was able to extract myself from the situation. I went to blow off steam with Leonard's brother and they got into a screaming match." She purses her lips. "Thankfully that part wasn't in front of Joanna, but anyway, I successfully mediated the situation and she isn't going to try and break us up anymore. Or so she says. I'm not sure that I trust her."

"I wouldn't." She says as she stands up. "Are you okay?" I smile and nod. "But really okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He straight up told her to her face that he intended for me to be part of his life for as long as I would have him and it made me think about all that makes us work…and I just…it feels right." I say and she sits down beside me.

"While no one is good enough for you in my eyes, he'll probably be the closest you'll ever get. You have my blessing." She says as she pats my leg. I laugh. "All jokes aside, I'm kind of glad you two are together because he has been getting you over that fear of moving forward."

"He has." I agree and then I sigh. "I kind of already told him that I overheard them. I told him I'd probably say yes…but then I pretended to be asleep and I've pretended like I have no clue what he's talking about."

"Some things never change, do they?" She asks, laughing. "You're going to give that man ulcers."

"I'm not going to give him any more ulcers than he's already going to give himself." I say, unable to contain my laughter. "We need to not let it go so far in between hanging out like this."

"I know, I'm sorry." She says as she lays her head on my shoulder. "After those dry, let's go get something to eat."

"You are speaking my language." I say and then I lay my head back. "So what's new with you?"

"Well…" She starts and then she sighs. "I have a problem, actually." The smile leaves my face and concern fills it's place. "It's nothing bad exactly? Give me some more time to think through it before I talk about it?"

"Okay." I nod and put my arm around her shoulder to give her a side hug. "Whatever it is, I'm sure everything will be okay."

"Probably." She sighs and then she gets off the couch and stretches. "I'm going to change." She goes to her room. "So your anniversary is coming up, any big plans?"

"Actually, he just found out he has to go to a conference that weekend." I keep the disappointment off of my tone. "But I don't need some big gesture. I'm low maintenance that way."

"That still stinks. I'm sorry, Peaches." She says and I smile to myself. "Jim and I will take you out."

"That'd be great." I say with a laugh. "Or maybe the three of us could just have a movie night."

"Oh come on, it's been forever since we went dancing. I know it won't be the same without your McCowboy, but it'll still be fun." She says as she comes back wearing leggings as opposed to the shorts she had on. I bring my knees to my chest and check the nail polish. It's dry.

"We'll see. I've got a week to decide." I say as I stand up and go to my room to put on some shoes and a sweatshirt. We make our way to the mess hall and collect trays before we find a table and sit down. I smile as I see Josh and Juarez sitting together. "They make a good couple."

"They do." She agrees as she looks over. "And if not for him going outside of his comfort zone, you may never have realized that your brother was here."

"I'm sure it would have happened eventually. Some basic class overlap maybe? Bumping into each other in line here." I shrug. "But it definitely made it more interesting the way it happened."

"Of all the people, he specifically picked him out." She laughs. "I don't think he could do it again if he tried."

"Oh definitely not." I say and then someone sets a tray down beside me and slings his arm around me as he sits. "Hello James."

"You sound grumpy when you say it like that." He says, taking his arm back. "So you're not allowed to say no, but we're going out Saturday."

"Now I'm obligated to say no." I say and he gives me a look. "Your persistence won't pay off here, Kirk. I'm simply more stubborn than you are."

"We'll see about that. Bones is on board with this idea, so I'll just get him to work some magic." He says and I raise my eyebrows.

"That sounds like a challenge." I say and he shrugs. "You should have just asked me, I was actually considering it before."

"Way to go, Kirk." Tro says, looking at him with a very annoyed expression. "You couldn't just let me handle it."

"We work better as a team." He shrugs. "We'll table this discussion for now, pick up once you aren't hangry anymore."

"You're digging a deeper hole, boy." I say and then I shake my head. "Is that the only reason you came over here?"

"No. Bones and I were grabbing a bite to eat and I saw you guys, so I came over." He scoots his tray and moves to the seat beside Tro.

"Did he ask ya?" Leonard asks as he sets his tray down and sits beside me and kisses my cheek.

"No, he said that I wasn't allowed to say no. So naturally, the answer is no." I say and he looks amused at that. "He says that you're on board with this?"

"I don't think it's a terrible idea." He says and I roll my eyes. "So not even a movie night?"

"Nope. I want to be as far away as James T. Kirk as I can manage while staying on campus." I'm having fun with this now.

"Come on, Ollie. You know you want to go out with us." He's giving me his famous Jim Kirk smile that usually has every girl saying yes to him.

"Now it's a hell no." I say and that makes Leonard laugh. "Maybe a girls' night out. We could see if Uhura and Gaila want to come."

"I wouldn't be opposed." Tro says with a shrug. "This is why you should listen to me, Kirk."

"I'll worm my way in, I'm as persistent as you are stubborn." He has that famous look about him again. I roll my eyes.

"Anyway, I'll get with Uhura and see what they think." I look back to Tro who just shakes her head. I get an idea then. "Jim, there is only one way I will agree to let you come with us on Saturday."

"I do not trust that look in your eyes right now, but I'm listening." He says as he rests his chin on his hand.

"You have to wear a virgin killer sweater dress." I say and Tro spits water everywhere, laughing.

"Done." He says and I raise my eyebrows. "I had no idea you saw me that way, Ollie. But I guess there's a first for everything."

"Hold on a minute, what is a virgin killer dress?" Leonard asks and I pull up a picture. He raises his eyebrows.

"I guess I should have taken into account that you have no shame." I say as I close out of the images.

"None whatsoever." He winks at me. "Don't worry about it, Bones. I won't take your lady from you."

"Trust me, I've got nothin' to worry about. Especially with you." He says and I shake my head. "But you and I are gonna have to have a talk about this." He looks to me and I laugh. I kiss his cheek.

* * *

"So wait, what is Kirk going to be wearing?" Uhura asks for the third time, unable to contain her laughter this time. "I wish I could go to see him make a fool of himself, but I've got some lab work I need to do on Saturday."

"That boy has no shame." I say with a shake of my head. "Juarez?" He looks up from his tablet. "Quit being cute with my brother and tell me if you're in for Saturday or not."

"Oh, yeah, totally." He says and I smile. "So what are we celebrating? You never go out anywhere."

"Troian and Jim want to take me out because it's my anniversary with Leonard and he's going to be at some conference this weekend." I say and then he is hugging me to his chest. "I'm not upset…these things happen."

"You poor thing. You're in denial." He says as he pets my hair. "Don't worry, Uncle Mateo is going to take good care of you this weekend."

"That sounds especially weird considering you are dating my brother." I say and he grins. "And I'm not in denial. I don't need taken care of. I just want to go out dancing and have a good time. I deserve it."

"That's true." Uhura agrees with a nod. "So how is that going by the way? I feel like it's been too long since we've had an unhealthy interest in your relationship."

"It's going well." I shrug. "There was a thing with the ex-wife over break, but I used my skills in mediation to secure that she isn't going to bother us anymore."

"Oh, did you kick her ass?" Juarez asks and I laugh. "What? That is part of your skills as a mediator."

"No, we talked like adults." I say and then I can't help but giggle. "I found out that he has a thing for younger women though. She's three years younger than him."

"Good thing it would be creepy if he went any younger than you." Juarez says and I laugh again.

"He says it just happened to work out that way, but I'm not so sure." I look at the time. "But I've got to get going. I'll see you guys in class tomorrow. This test is going down."

"Absolutely. See you then." Uhura says and I smile as I gather my things and head out of the library.

"Hey Beautiful." A cadet says as I walk past, as I normally would, I ignore him and keep walking. "Hey, I was talking to you."

"Good for you." I say and then I feel an hand close around my wrist and I drop my tablet. "You have two seconds to remove your hand from my wrist."

"Oh, what are you going to do about it?" He asks and I throw an elbow into his gut. He doubles over. I kick his knee and as he stumbles I knock him onto the ground in a rather undignified way.

"Lay a hand on me or another cadet ever again." I dare him as I stoop and pick up my things. I look over and see Pete, as in One-Eyed Pete.

"Hey, the fuck you think you're doin'?" Pete asks, his thick east coast accent coming out full force. It's always struck me as weird that I couldn't place where exactly, but I think that's intentional. I look over and see the cadet trying to come at me again. He takes all of four steps over and shoves him away. "Keep your dirty paws off my sister." The cadet gives him a dirty look before he turns and walks away. "Yeah, keep walkin'."

"Pete." I say as I take him by the arm and drag him away. "What are you doing here? It's great to see you, but…"

"You were on my mind, so I thought I'd come check on ya. As far as Starfleet knows, I'm your other brother." He says and I shake my head. "But damn, look at you. You look strong, kid."

"I would say that's a fair assessment." I say and then I shake my head. "Wait, why does Starfleet think you're my brother?"

"It's another one of those things you shouldn't ask about." He says and I roll my eyes. "I'm gonna stick around for a while, make some friends on the west coast."

"In other words, you want eyes on me?" I ask and he shrugs, offering me a wink. "You're a weird dude."

"Hey, the fuck you lookin' at?" Pete asks over my shoulder. I turn and see Leonard walking towards us. I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from going forward into another confrontation.

"Calm down, that's my boyfriend, Leonard." I say and then I turn to him. "Hey, you remember Pete?"

"As in your friend in the 'private sector'?" He asks, using air quotes. I nod. "Olivia." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Pete, this is Leonard McCoy. Leonard, this is Pete. He came to check on me." I attempt to restart the encounter so it's a more positive experience for Leonard at least. I know Pete doesn't really care that much.

"You treat her good?" He asks, daring Leonard to say otherwise. I can't help the small smile. "Because if you don't…"

"Why don't you ask her yourself? She's standin' right there." Leonard says as he gestures at me.

"Leonard is also my doctor, so it would be kind of going against his credibility to not treat me right." I say and he makes a 'not bad' face.

"Nice." He says and then he wipes his hand on his jeans before he offers it to Leonard. Leonard hesitates briefly before he firmly shakes his hand. "Don't worry 'bout it, Tough Guy. I'm just lookin' out for Olivia. I've seen that piece of shit put her through a lot."

"I guess I can't fault ya there." Leonard says and I smile at him. "If you wanna catch up with him, we can reschedule."

"Nah, it's fine." Pete says and then he lightly punches my shoulder. "You know where to find me, kid. Come catch up when you can."

"Okay." I smile at him. He flexes his arm then and I roll my eyes before I punch him as hard as I can.

"Damn, you've gotten better. I almost felt that." He says and then he pats my cheek. "See ya." He offers a wave to Leonard before he walks away.

"You know, when you told me you were friends with someone named One-Eyed Pete, that is not what I expected." Leonard says and I look up at him.

"What? You expected some rugged looking man in his late forties who looks like he's lived a long, hard life?" I ask and he shrugs. "Nah, Pete is just a year or so older than you."

"If I have a thing for younger women, you've got a thing for older guys." He says and I scoff. "Come on, we've got some joggin' to do." I take his arm and we start walking towards the gym. "So…you never had a thing for him, did you?"

"Leonard, I became friends with Pete at the height of all of the bull shit I went through. Men and women can be friends without them having a 'thing' for each other." I bump his hip with mine. "Besides, I'm not his type. He likes his women a little more busty and strawberry blonde. He thought it'd be funny to ask tipsy Olivia what kind of women she'd be into if she were into women and he justified it by telling me what kind of women he liked." I see the curiosity. "Really?"

"I need to know what I need to look out for." He says and I roll my eyes. "It's a healthy curiosity."

"Mhm." I roll my eyes. "Now I'm definitely not going to tell you. Let that keep you awake at night."

"I'll just add it to the list." He says sarcastically. "There's somethin' else we need to talk about as well."

"No, I will not speak French to you during sex." I say and he raises his eyebrows at me. "What? That's not it?"

"No, that is not it." He says as he looks around, he's amused but still embarrassed. "We still need to talk about what you'd say yes to."

"Leonard." I say with a sigh. "I'm telling you, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"That is horseshit and you know it." He says and I regard him dubiously. "I'm startin' to figure out that poker face of yours."

"Oh honey, I hope we never play poker together then." I smirk and he narrows his eyes at me. "But this isn't a poker face, this is just my face. I'm telling you that I really have no idea what you're talking about. What would there even be for me to say yes to?"

"You know exactly what." He says and I sigh. "Darlin', this is drivin' me nuts. Last time we came back from Georgia you were avoidin' your feelings for me. Now you're avoidin' telling me important information."

"Tell me what there would be for me to say yes to and we can see if that jogs any memories." I say and he purses his lips. We reach the gym. "You think about that while you get changed." I pat his cheek before I go to the women's locker room. If he has the nerve to tell me what he said, then I have to have the courage to tell him the truth. I change into my leggings and a long-sleeved shirt before I put half of my hair up in a bun and go out to start stretching. Leonard is already there. He's still thinking. I smile at him and we stretch in silence. Once we're finished, we head out and start our jog.

"Christmas Eve, you fell asleep while we were talkin' to Easton, Malachi, and Amalie." He says and I nod. "I picked ya up to take ya up to bed and Malachi…asked if I was gonna marry you and I said I wanted to."

"Oh, yeah, that? Totally. I'd say yes." I say like its no big deal and then I pick up the pace.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asks, catching up to me. "After two weeks of dancin' around the topic, you knew exactly what I was talking about and then you say it like it's no big deal?"

"If you didn't have the balls to tell me what it was then I didn't have to tell you anything." I say and he narrows his eyes. "If we're going to get married someday, you have to be just as fearless as I can be in telling me stuff."

"I don't like it, but you're right." He says and I smile. "So you're sure about that? You'd say yes if I asked you right now?"

"Well I'd hope you'd make it a little more special, but I guess I would." I say as I offer him a playful smirk.

"Alright, Darlin'." He says and we lapse into a companionable silence. "So I at least gotta know. If you were into women, would Sullivan be one of them?" I think about it.

"I guess she fits some of my parameters." I say with a shrug. "Jeez, it's like I was telling Ali. Some men never grow out of some of their boyish tendencies."

"So that's what you were talkin' about." He says with narrowed eyes. "I'm gonna have to learn some key words in some of these languages so I know if you're talkin' about me or not."

"Oh honey." I say with a sweet smile. "I don't do it often enough to warrant all that. That instance was specifically to show off my French speaking skills. You brag about all of these languages I know and yet no one has heard them." I shrug. "Also, the three of you do act like thirteen-year-olds who are allowed to drink sometimes."

"We do not." He says indignantly and I give him a placating smile. "You and Momma think you're so good at that."

"We're the masters." I say with a toss of my hair. We reach the turn around point and start heading back towards the gym. "I'll learn how to handle you McCoy boys no problem."

"I already can't tell ya no, what more do you want?" He asks and I glance over to see that he's teasing. Sometimes I can't tell. I smile. "And what's that about?"

"You're sweet." I say and he eyes me warily. "It's not a trick, I've always thought you were sweet. Grumpy and lacking in bedside manner, but sweet."

"You don't mind my bedside manner too much now, do ya?" He asks and I give him a look. He laughs.

"I was being nice and you have to go and do that." I shake my head. "Now I might have to tell your mom that you're being crass with me in public."

"Darlin', I feel like that was hardly crass. You know I can do better than that." He says and I roll my eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm glad you think I'm sweet."

"Mhm. I'll show ya sorry." I say with a shake of my head. We arrive back at the gym and I check my watch. He's got an hour-long class in twenty minutes. "Hey, I'm going to catch up with Pete while you're in class." He doesn't exactly look happy about that. I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm not typically a jealous guy. I'm confident in our relationship. That guy just…" He says and I feel a little sympathetic. I guess Pete could be considered attractive, but I've never really saw him that way. I stand up on my toes and kiss him with more enthusiasm than I normally would in public.

"Pete is the opposite of what I've realized my type is. He only fills out one requirement while you check off all the boxes. You have absolutely nothing to be worried about. I love you, have a good class." I peck his lips one more time before I take off jogging the opposite direction. When Pete said I'd know where to find him, he meant the seediest dive bar in this area. So that's where I jog to. I walk in and spot him sitting at the end of the bar. I walk over and take a seat on the stool beside him.

"I can't get over how healthy you look, kid." He says before he takes a swig from the bottle in his hand.

"A healthy one-twenty-two and I can bench one-forty." I say and he whistles. "I've learned krav maga, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I'm working on Muay Thai. I'm pretty good at it."

"You've got the spirit of a fighter in you." He says and I smile. "Barkeep, a water for the lady." He looks at me then. "You still drinkin'?"

"No, the last time I drank anything was a glass of wine the Christmas before last. The boxing was to work on reflexes and to help me work out the nerves making me want to drink. That and yoga." I say and he nods.

"Good. You don't need that shit." He says and then he nods to the barkeep as he sets a glass in front of me. I take a drink. "So it kinda concerns me that you already got a guy."

"He's actually a good guy." I say with a smile. "Want to hear how we met?" He gestures me on. "I went to the shipyard we were departing from to come here and Marcus showed up and tried to stop me. I caught him off guard by knowing how to defend myself after getting punched in the face. Anyway, I kneed him in the face four times before security dragged him off. Then when I was walking away I almost ran into him. He looked like hell and smelled like a bar, but he made sure I was okay. We ended up sitting next to each other on the shuttle and then his roommate is childhood friends with my roommate, so we got to know each other better and…well here we are almost a year later." He nods and takes another swig. "He punched Marcus in the face once."

"Okay, now I like him." He says and I laugh. "So a doctor? Nice. He fills out all the requirements, doesn't he."

"Yeah, he does." I smile. "We drive each other nuts in a good way." I take another drink of my water. "So what's new with you?"

"You know, a little of this, a little of that." He shrugs. "I've already made some friends. They'll keep an eye on Fuckhead for me."

"He's in prison for now, I've got a little less than three years to come up with a plan that doesn't involve owing you a favor." I say and he looks amused at that.

"For you? I'd do it for free. What are brothers for?" He asks and I shake my head. "I know. You believe there's good in everyone."

"I believe that he is incredibly mentally ill…the last time he came after me…" I look into my water. "It was pretty bad, if not for one of my friends and our instructor…I'm not sure what would have happened. I was a good knock to the head away from being out to lunch."

"Mentally ill or not, I hope he rots." He says and I sigh. It's best to agree to disagree with him. "You know what I'd do to him if he hit my actual sister? She's not allowed to tell me no in those regards."

"I'm assuming this is a rhetorical question." I say and he laughs before he finishes off his beer. "How long are you sticking around for?"

"I don't know, I'll let ya know before I leave." He says and I smile. "Probably hang out around this fine establishment, make some more friends. I kinda like San Francisco."

"I know it's more of a me thing, but you should check out Alcatraz. Supposedly the ghosts of inmates still stick around." I wiggle my fingers spookily and he laughs.

"That is a very you thing." He shakes his head. "But hell, we'll see if those guys got what it takes to spook me."

"You can take 'em." I say and then I look at my watch. "I better start heading back so I can take a shower before I go babysit my cousin's baby."

"What? Did all of your sane family head out west to avoid the batshit crazy that your mom married into?" He asks and I laugh.

"Well, Josh is at Starfleet, he's a year ahead of me. Then my cousin Jasper is a year behind me. I inspired him." I say with a smile. "He moved his wife and baby out here. So I guess kind of."

"Jesus, that kid is what? Nineteen?" He asks and I nod. "Good for him. I don't gotta tell ya to be careful."

"I always am." I say as I punch his shoulder. He winks as he punches mine lightly. "I could hit harder than that before this."

"Yeah? I'm not the one who needs work on my punches." He says and I roll my eyes. "Get outta here." I down the rest of my water.

"Bye Pete." I say and then I head out of the bar and jog back to campus. I pick up my bag from the gym before I head back to my room and take a shower. I dress in jeans and a sweatshirt afterwards, before I load up my backpack and head out the door. Leonard is stepping off the lift as I approach it.

"Did you have a good time?" He asks as he leans down to give me a kiss. I smile and nod.

"I told him how you punched Marcus' lights out once and he likes you now." I say and he rolls his eyes. "Anyway, you want me to call you when I get back?"

"If you want to." He says as he kisses me again. "But you're in trouble, I guess Fairchild and Grace were nearby when you kissed me like that."

"Yeah, are you not allowed to kiss your girlfriend around your boyfriends?" I ask and he grabs my side. "Did they give you shit?"

"The entire hour." He says and I shrug. "But it did make me feel better." He tucks my hair behind my ear. "All the boxes, you said?"

"Every last one." I say and then I pat his cheek. "Maybe I'll tell you what the categories include later."

"I'd like to know, for future reference." He says and I wink at him before I step onto the lift and press the button for the ground floor and then head out to Jasper and Abby's place.

* * *

"I'm sorry I'm not gonna be here, Darlin'." Leonard says as he pulls me into a hug. I rest my head against his chest with a smile.

"Would you stop apologizing? It's not like you're going to be gone a month. You'll be back Sunday night, right?" I ask and he hums. "So we can grab dinner or something then. I'm not worried about it."

"You're the best." He says and I smile before I stand up on my toes and give him a tame kiss.

"Now go, you're going to miss your shuttle." I say and he makes a face. "Leonard, I know it's going to be difficult for you to be stuck with Grace and Fairchild for that long, but I have faith in you."

"I'm gonna need it." He says before he lets me go. "You know how to get ahold of me." I nod slowly.

"Be safe." I say and then he's walking away. I take the small bag of peanut butter cookies out of my bag. "Hey McCoy!" I call and he turns, I toss them to him. He looks at them before he grins. "An early present."

"Thank you, Darlin'." He says before he turns back around and walks away. When I turn to head towards the residence hall, Jim is standing right there.

"Jesus!" I exclaim as I jump back. "What the hell was that, Kirk?" I put my hand over my heart.

"That was probably the sweetest goodbye I've ever seen." He says and I eye him warily. "My outfit for tomorrow night came in."

"Is that what you were creeping on me for?" I ask as I step around him and head inside. He follows.

"No, I was creeping on you, as you put it, because I need some advice." He says and I eye him warily over my shoulder. "Humor me, Ollie."

"Fine." I say, pressing the button for our floor on the lift. "What do you need advice about?"

"Well…there's this girl." He says and I roll my eyes. "No, this one is different. I get why you react that way, but seriously."

"Okay…what makes this girl different?" I ask as I walk towards Tro and I's room. Jim, of course, follows until we're seated on the couch.

"I think I might be in love with her." He says and I raise my eyebrows. Jim Kirk…actually in love? I feel his forehead. "Ollie, I'm serious. What do I do?"

"You're asking me for love advice?" I ask and he nods. "Well…I'm not really a great example, but I guess just try to spend time with her and assess whether or not she feels the same for you. Or you could just straight up tell her that you have feelings for her. I take it this person is somewhat close to you since you're sure you love her."

"What if…this person has a difficult time expressing feelings." He says and I purse my lips.

"Look, Jim, if the feelings are mutual, then they will come out all by themselves in the end. My best advice is to just enjoy the relationship that you have with this person right now and then if it progresses to more, then that's great. If not? Well, you've got a great friendship." I say and he nods.

"So that's how you felt with Bones?" He asks and I nod. "Ah, that makes sense." He sits back and crosses his leg. "If there were ever gonna be anyone to make me fall in love, this one was gonna be the one to do it."

"I'm sure she's lovely." I say with a smile. "Now, I have a question for you." He looks at me attentively. "I feel like the lot of you are up to something."

"Ollie, you're being paranoid." He says with a roll of his eyes. "It's just going to be a bunch of us hanging out at the jazz club. There's nothing there for you to figure out."

"Now that makes me even more suspicious." I say and he gets that Jim Kirk look about him. "What?"

"Nothing. I've gotta go study." He kisses my cheek before he hops up and leaves the room. I roll my eyes before I go and change into yoga pants and a tee shirt and start studying. I thought that Jim might worm his way into spending time with me tonight since Leonard is at the conference and Troian is with Big Sull and his girlfriend for the night. It's been a while since I've actually spent time by myself and it was definitely by choice. I don't like being alone because it reminds me of what it was like before.

I shake my head to clear those thoughts before I get to work on my assignments for the weekend. I know that I'm not going to go out and get hammered tomorrow, but I don't want to have these nagging at the back of my mind. I start dozing around midnight, so I get up and go to sleep.

* * *

 _I feel as fingers gently trace patterns across my body. I jump and they pause briefly before they go back. Leonard must have come back early._

 _"You weren't supposed to be back until Sunday." I say as I open my eyes. It isn't Leonard though. Marcus is kneeling beside my bed. Ice runs through my veins. I jump out of bed and my back hits the wall._

 _"I wasn't supposed to be back at all, was I?" He asks with a sneer as he stands up. I run out of the room and try to hit the button on the panel by the door to call for security, but he grabs me by the arm and throws me onto the couch. Before I can even react, he's on top of me, punching me as hard as he can and then he's choking me._

* * *

"No!" I gasp as I sit up and nearly fall out of bed. "Lights!" I call and they turn on. No one is here. It was a dream. Marcus is in prison right now. "Come on, Ollie." I take a deep breath before I get up and grab a drink of water. I take a seat on the couch and sit cross-legged to try to clear my mind, but that definitely is not working. I look at the clock…it's two-thirty in the morning. I try calling Tro and she doesn't answer. Alright, that makes sense. No big deal. I try Jim because I don't want to bother Leonard while he's away, but he doesn't pick up either. They're not leaving me options. I don't want to bother Josh with this stuff and I'm not there yet with Uhura or Juarez. I sigh and I call Leonard.

"Darlin', is everything alright?" He asks and I can tell that he was asleep and I feel like a horrible human being.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I say, but my voice is off. "Obviously it isn't, huh? Oh boy." I sigh. "I had a bad dream and all of my usual things to settle myself back down aren't working. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anythin' to be sorry for, Darlin'." He says, sounding more awake now. "Do you want to talk about the dream?"

"Not really but maybe it'll get it out of my mind." I lay my head back. "In the dream, I thought that you came back early and you were waking me up, but when I opened my eyes it was Marcus. I tried to call security, but he got to me before I could get to the panel and he did what you would expect him to."

"But it was just a dream and he's still in prison and unfortunately, I'm still here with Grace and Fairchild." He says and I smile to myself. "He's not gonna hurt you anymore, Darlin'."

"I appreciate where that comes from, but I'm not so sure." I say and then I sigh. "I'm sorry, you have to be up early."

"Do I sound like a man who cares about that?" He asks and I smile to myself. "This is what I signed up for. Well, not specifically this, but this is part of it."

"Oh, you totally signed up for hearing the sweet, sexy voice of your panicked girlfriend at almost three in the morning." I say and he laughs quietly.

"Well, it's always nice to hear your voice." He says and I smile again. "I'm here for ya no matter what Darlin'. I don't care what time it is or where I am."

"Next time I'll skip trying to call Tro or Jim then. I expected Tro to not pick up, but Jim? That one surprised me." I say with a shake of my head.

"I don't know what you'd wanna call him for." The way he says it makes me laugh. "That kid…"

"He thinks he's in love with someone. I'll keep you posted on who it might be since we're a couple and I tell you everything." I say and he laughs lightly again. "I'll let you go back to bed."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks and I do a quick assessment of myself. "I could talk to ya until you fell back asleep."

"I'm not going to do that to you." I say with a roll of my eyes. "You have important doctor stuff to do."

"I'm only not complainin' about it because there's gonna be food." He says and that makes me laugh. "Go get back in bed, I'm gonna talk to ya until you're asleep."

"Oh, I'm so sleepy. I'm sleep talking now. Goodnight, Leonard." I say as I fake a huge yawn.

"You think you're so cute." He says and I laugh. "I'm serious, it'll be just like I'm there except you can't hold onto these biceps."

"Because that's what I hold onto when we cuddle in bed." I say as I get off the couch and go back to my room. "I'm in bed. Now what?" I fake a seductive voice.

"Now that is a whole other conversation for another time, Darlin'." He says, clearly amused. "You're not into that, are you?"

"I could be." I say, implying the shrug with my tone. "I just hope we're never apart long enough to have to get to know if I am." I pull the covers back up over myself. "Dim lights."

"I hope so too." He says and I can hear him getting comfortable. "How'd the rest of your night go?"

"It went okay. Jim followed me back and asked me for romantic advice and then after he left I did homework until I started to fall asleep." I say and then I shake my head. "I'm boring, what do you see in me?"

"I see an intelligent and dedicated woman." He says and I smile. "And besides, if you're boring, what's that make me?"

"Super boring." I joke and he scoffs. I can't help the giggle that comes out. "Did you like your cookies?"

"I think they're your best ones yet." He says and I smile. "I threatened Fairchild that you'd flip him again if he tried to take any."

"Hey, you can do that yourself." I say and he laughs. "But guess what? There's more where that came from. I went ahead and made a full batch which is three dozen."

"All for me? You really are the woman of my dreams." He says and I laugh. "How are you feelin', Darlin'?"

"I'm getting very sleepy." I say like I'm repeating after a hypnotist. "But really, I think this might be working. Though I miss the kisses all over my face."

"I miss kissin' all over your face. I got spoiled over break." He says and I smile. "You cuddled up right next to me."

"I can sleep anywhere vaguely horizontal, but I sleep the best next to you." I say and I make a face at myself.

"I also miss Sleepy Ollie because she's close to Honest Ollie and she says some pretty cute stuff like that." He says and I groan. "Darlin', I love it."

"I don't, everyone else gets to have secrets. I'm a blabbermouth." I say and he laughs again. I let out a real yawn this time. "Go to sleep, Leonard.'

"I will." He says and I make a noise faintly like a growl. "Did you just growl at me?" He's amused.

"I may have, what are you gonna do about it?" I ask, definitely heading deeper into Sleepy Ollie territory.

"Ask me again when I get back." He says and I smile to myself. "Darlin'?" I hum. "Are you asleep?" I hum again. "I love you, Darlin'. Goodnight."

* * *

"I swear Olivia, the two of you have the exact same playlist." Juarez says from the living room, meaning my brother and I. I chuckle to myself.

"Where do you think she got her fantastic taste in music from?" Josh asks and I chuckle to myself. I apply my lipstick before I get up and take a look at the dress Troian picked out for me. It might not be so bad once I get it on. I put it on and sigh. It technically covers the parameters I gave her.

"Troian, can you come here for a moment?" I call and a few moments later she's in my doorway. "Where is the back of this dress?"

"It called in sick, so you're going to have to suck it up." She says and I give her a look. "It covers all the requirements you gave me."

"I know, Miss. Technicalities." I say as I turn to look at myself again. It looks good on me…a shorter than I'm used to little number that doesn't exactly cling to me, but the way it falls accentuates the right parts of me. It covers the scar on my chest, but it makes up for the lack of exposed skin on my back which is totally open. The only part I think I like about this dress is the deep green that suits my complexion very well.

"Now get your shoes on, we're meeting Jim there. I guess he's shaving his legs." She says and I toss her a look. "You're so pretty when you smile at me like that."

"I'll show you smiling." I say as I sit down and put on the black, strappy heels. She picks up my favorite leather jacket and holds it for me to put on. I slide into it. I wonder if I can get away with leaving this on all night. We step out of my room and Juarez drops to his knees, clutching his heart.

"Olivia! You're a beautiful angel!" He says and I roll my eyes. He gets back up. "Sassy angel."

"Beautiful and sassy, I'll take it. Computer, stop playback." I say and the music cuts off. "You guys ready?"

"We are." Josh says and the four of us head out. I'm thankful for Juarez talking so much right now, because to be honest, I don't really feel like going out, but I'm trying to not let my mood sour everyone else's. I don't want to be upset that Leonard hasn't contacted me all day, but if I'm being honest with myself…my feelings are hurt. I know he's busy, but I figured at least a two-minute call while they took a break for lunch. As we exit the car, I plaster on a convincing smile and we head into the club where Tro immediately confiscates my jacket. Once we're on the dance floor, I do start to have fun.

"Hey Ollie, can I have this dance?" Jim asks from behind me. I turn and promptly die of laughter. "I look amazing in this dress. I might argue I look even better than you."

"Okay Jim." I say and he grins before he spins me and we start dancing. I can't keep a straight face though. As the band transitions into the next song, Tro takes my hand and spins me while simultaneously giving Jim a bag.

"I'm going to cut in now." She says as she spins us away. "You're just getting all kinds of swept off your feet tonight."

"I know, I think I might see what everyone sees in him now." I say with fake sincerity. She laughs. "He really has no shame, does he?"

"None whatsoever." She says almost fondly. When I spot Jim again, he's dressed how he normally would be. He comes over and takes both of our hands to spin us out and then into him.

"Alright, I'm going to get us some drinks." I say as I spin out of him with a wink. This leaves he and Tro to dance, because now I'm certain that she's the one he was talking about yesterday. I head over to the bar. "Can I get two Mrs. Parkers, two Bud Light classics, and a ginger ale?"

"You sure can." Sebastian, the bartender, says as he comes over. "It's been a while, Olivia. No tall, dark, and grumpy?"

"Unfortunately no, he's away at a conference, so he had our friends take me out for our anniversary." I say with a shake of my head.

"In that case, drinks are on me. The gentleman at your usual table will look after them for you." He says as he sets my ginger ale down on the bar. I take it and turn to look.

"Thank you, Sebastian." I say before I head over. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me, Pete."

"It's a good thing you know better." He says and I shake my head before I take my drink. "You're real good at pretendin' to have a good time."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I say as I sit down. "I'm here with three of my best friends and my brother."

"Yeah, but you feel like a fifth wheel. I almost feel like I gotta get up and dance with ya and I don't dance." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Thank you, Pete, but I'm fine." I take a drink of my ginger ale before I set it down. "Did you visit Alcatraz?"

"Not yet, kid." He says as he sits back. "So walk me through, who all's here? Obviously the tall one is your brother."

"The guy he's dancing with is my friend, Juarez. We're both in nursing and in linguistics classes together. The guy who came in the killer dress is Jim and he's dancing with Troian." I say and he nods. "They're good people." A newer waitress brings the drinks I'd ordered over and I smile my thanks.

"I know." He says and I shake my head. "You've only ever made a couple of questionable choices in friends. Me and Fuckhead."

"In spite of this reputation I don't really know about, I know you're a good guy. Thomas wouldn't have let you near me otherwise." I say and he's amused by that idea. "Between you and that kid from my class…"

"Yeah? Well he got ya to take the test, I got word out that you were gonna bitch out." He says and I raise my eyebrows.

"Thanks." I finally decide that it makes me happy. "He really was going to end up killing me."

"I'm not so sure he still won't try." He says and I nod. "Your friends are comin' over." I put my smile back on. "Faker."

"Ollie, who's this?" Jim asks and I take one of the Bud Lights and give it to him. He's on red alert.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Pete." I say and I can immediately tell that Troian is tense.

"Nice to meet ya." He says as he tilts his bottle towards them before he takes a drink. "This is definitely a better haunt than her previous choice."

"Hey, Scully's was the least likely place for me to go." I say and he's amused by that. "He used to handle Drunk Ollie the best."

"Someone had to. She's a spitfire." He says with a roll of his eyes. "You alright, Sweetheart?"

"Don't call me sweetheart." Tro says and he keeps eye contact with her before he finishes off his drink. He slides off the stool.

"I'm gonna head out so this one can relax." He says as he lightly punches my shoulder. I roll my eyes and punch him back. "Oh come on, like you mean it." I stand up and punch him as hard as I can. "There she is." He pats my cheek and then he's gone.

"What the hell was that? Do you realize how dangerous that man is?" Tro says through her teeth. They're all seated now. I take my own seat before I slide her drink to her.

"He may be dangerous, but he's a good man." I say evenly. "I know you may question my judge of character, but I just found out that if not for him, Pike probably wouldn't have come to talk to me." I watch her process that information.

"He seems nice enough. The punching thing is kind of weird though." Josh says and Tro nods slowly.

"I'm sorry…I just." She shakes her head. This probably has something to do with her past, which is something I definitely get. "I'm sorry. I do trust your judge of character. Has McCowboy met him?"

"Actually, he has." I say with a shake of my head. "Some asshole was giving me a hard time after I left the library on Thursday and he scared him off after he tried to come at me again."

"Must be new here." Jim rolls his eyes. "So what'd Bones think of ol' One-Eyed Pete, even though he definitely does not look like he should have that sort of nickname."

"Drop the one-eyed." I say as he would've had he heard him say that. "Well…he was shocked to say the very least."

"That guy gives off major daddy vibes." Juarez says and I laugh. "I'm serious. I'll bet McCoy was jealous."

"Well…when we were talking about it, he specifically said he wasn't typically a jealous guy because he's confident in our relationship." I say and he gasps. "What?"

"He just lost a bet." Jim says and I narrow my eyes at him. "I know Bones and that guy shook him."

"I remind him of his sister. That's all." I say and he gives me a questioning look. "He likes busty redheads."

"Oh yeah, you're totally out then." Tro says and I laugh. I'm glad to see her relaxing a little bit. She's pretending to be more relaxed than she actually is, but it's not all fake. She'll never trust him like I do and I can live with that. That's when Leonard and I's song comes on, which hurts.

"I'll have to tell you guys how I came by that information after I visit the little mediator's room." I slide off the stool and start walking towards the bathroom. A hand takes mine and spins me. I try to pull away until I see that it's Leonard.

"Sorry I'm late, Darlin'." He says and I feel as the smile on my face becomes genuine. I hug him.

"I thought you weren't going to be back until tomorrow." I say as I allow him to lead me onto the dance floor.

"Well if you knew I was comin' back tonight, I couldn't surprise ya now could I?" He asks and I smile. We lapse into an easy silence as we enjoy our dance. "I like the dress."

"Of course you do." I say with a roll of my eyes. "I, on the other hand, do not like it at all. It brings too much attention."

"Well, you've gotten well over a hundred percent of my attention." He says and that makes me smile. "This is what'd you be wearin' in that stranded on a deserted planet scenario."

"That's hardly practical." I say and he shrugs. Our song fades into a slower number and I get closer to him and rest my head on his chest. "I'm glad you surprised me." He brings my hand to his lips.

"The look on your face was worth it." He says as he gives me a light squeeze. "I'm sorry I couldn't call ya today."

"That's okay." I say gently. "I mean it's just a dating anniversary, it's not like it's that big of a deal, is it?" I feel kind of like it is because of all that we've been through in the past year. "Now if we do get married and you don't call me on our first wedding anniversary? My brother won't be the one stringing you from the flagpole by your testicles."

"That's good to know." He says and then he leans back so that he can look at me. "And I think today is kind of a big deal. Especially considering how much of a pain in the ass you are."

"I know, how can we stand to be together?" I ask and he smiles. "Hey, do you want to get out of here? Fifth wheeling has been rough."

"I was just about to suggest that." He says and I find Tro among the dancing people with Jim and blow her a kiss. She winks at me.

"Okay, let's go." I take him by the hand and pick up my jacket before we leave the club. "So how was the conference?"

"My favorite part was leaving." He says and I laugh. He takes off his jacket and drapes it around my shoulders.

"I am wearing a jacket, you know." I say as I put my arms through the sleeves anyway. I take his arm.

"That's hardly gonna keep ya warm, Darlin'." He says and I smile. "We don't have a far walk."

"So you have something planned?" I say and he shrugs. "How romantic." We lapse into silence as he leads the way to a restaurant, but instead of going to the host stand, we step onto the lift that takes us to the very top floor. Up here it is considerably more intimate with low lighting, but what is really stunning is the way that the walls and ceiling are transparent. There are a few other couples here as well.

"Dr. McCoy, your table is right this way." The host says in a low voice as he grabs two menus and leads us to our own private table. I give Leonard back his jacket which he drapes over his arm before he pulls my chair out for me.

"Thank you." I say to both he and the host as he sets the menus down for us. I decide to leave my jacket on because this dress feels incredibly inappropriate for where we are. "So, Tro knew the plan, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did." He says as he looks over the menu. "And I know what you're thinkin' and you need to stop. You're fine."

"Of course you know what I'm thinking." I say with a roll of my eyes as I open the menu and look it over. The waiter approaches holding a bottle, I read the label and see that it's a sparkling water. The host recognized Leonard on sight, so he must have said not to bring out wine, because this is definitely the sort of place for that.

"Good evening, my name is Androcles and I will be your server for this evening." He says as he pours the water into the wine glasses on the table. "Is there anything I can get started for you at this time?"

"Darlin'?" Leonard looks to me and I shake my head. "We'll need just a few minutes to look over the menu."

"Of course, sir, please, take your time. If I may recommend, the primavera stuffed chicken is very good." Androcles says and I smile.

"Thank you." I say and he returns my smile before he walks away to give us a minute. "And you were worried that you weren't romantic enough for me."

"It's still not spontaneous stargazin' romantic, but I like to think it's acceptable for a first dating anniversary." He says and I smile and look over the menu.

"Reading over this reminds me how much I actually miss cooking." I say with a small smile. "I'm just going to have to harass Jasper and Abby for their kitchen again. Also their baby."

"I was wonderin' when you had time to make those cookies." He says and I wink at him. "I never asked, how was Lydia?"

"She was an angel, of course." I say with a smile. "She is easily the best baby I have ever babysat. She had dinner, we played peekaboo, we watched her favorite show for a little while and then she went straight to sleep. Jazz said she was going to fight me on that. Abby asked me to come every night, so I just taught her my secret weapon instead."

"You've got a secret weapon?" He asks as he sets the menu down. "And what might that be?"

"No baby has ever been able to resist me humming Hey Jude by The Beatles." I say and he laughs quietly. "Classical music is the best." Androcles returns then.

"Have the two of you had enough time to review the menu?" He asks, folding his hands behind his back.

"Yes, I'll have the primavera stuffed chicken." I say with a smile at him. "Thank you for your recommendation."

"And I'll have the chicken marsala." Leonard says as he picks up my menu and gives them to Androcles.

"Of course, I will return with your salad in just a few moments." He says as he takes the menus and leaves again. I take a drink of water.

"So I've been trying to work out if there might be any other parts to this plan of yours." I say as I set the glass back down.

"Yeah? Have you worked anything out yet?" He asks, incredibly satisfied with himself. I hum as I look him over.

"You just confirmed that there is something, so there's that." I say and he narrows his eyes at me. "Subtle interrogation." I wink just as Androcles returns with the salad, he serves us before he leaves again. I shrug. "I finished everything for the weekend this morning, so I'm all yours tonight."

"That's good to know. So you're not gonna try and guess?" He asks and I shake my head. "Good, because you read me like a book."

"It's part of your charm." I grin. "I like knowing what to expect and I can usually pin down if something I'm doing is going to make you upset before I've even done it. It's useful in avoiding you."

"Now that I know you use this for nefarious purposes, I might have to try bein' unpredictable." He says and my grin turns into a fond smile. The rest of dinner is great and pretty soon we're heading back to campus. We arrive at our residence hall and he leads the way to my room and types in my code. As we enter, I notice candles everywhere. "This part was inspired by you. Somethin' we like doin' together, but a little more special."

"So watching movies until I fall asleep on you?" I ask as I take my jacket off and look up at him.

"Somethin' like that." He says and I smirk at him before I walk to my room and hang my jacket up. I step out of the high heels and go back out to him. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head against his chest. "So what do you wanna watch?"

"Our favorite." I say as I let go of him and take a seat on the couch. He pulls up Breakfast at Tiffany's and sits down beside me. I cuddle up to him.

"So when did this become your favorite?" He asks and I ponder that for a moment before I look up at him.

"I don't know when…but I know why. In the end the future doesn't really matter to them…all that matters is that in that moment they are happy and together." I say and he kisses me. "It makes belonging to someone not seem so terrible."

"Are you saying we belong to each other?" He asks and I shrug as I turn my attention back to the movie. "I don't hate that idea."


	12. The Logistics

_Welcome to chapter 12! I put some notes on it on the chapters I did rewrite, but just in case you didn't see those and you're returning for just this chapter, chapters 1-4 have been rewritten to appease the perfectionist in me. The first three don't really have any substantial changes, but chapter 4 has some pretty cute fluff that gives more of an insight on why Ollie is the way she is! It just helps everything now to make more sense. Anyway, I hope you enjoy THIS chapter!_

* * *

"Gray, you dead?" Simmons asks and his face pops into my line of sight. I just nod from my position star-fishing on the ground and he laughs. "I don't think I've ever seen you act tired."

"Next week I have another simulation that's going to combine a lot of the skills I've learned with a heavy emphasis on the linguistics, so I've been staying up later to study that stuff along with everything else. Also the Muay Thai." I say and then I force myself to sit up. "Who am I up against for the spars?"

"Hall." He says and I nod as I stand up. "You sure you're going to be alright?" I roll my shoulders.

"We'll see, won't we?" I ask as I head towards the side of the class where the spars are taking place. I put my gloves on.

"Gray and Hall, you're up next." Commander Groff says as he looks at his pad. This is the first time I've been up against him since the broken ankle incident last year. It was looked into and he was given a warning. That's all. "Same rules." No deadly force, but don't necessarily hold back either and tap out before it gets too bad. We step into the circle. "Whenever you're ready." We're circling each other now. It probably shouldn't astound me so much how little regulation there is to these upper level courses. I'd be more worried if I hadn't been working with Troian outside of this.

"Come on, let's see those supplemental lessons already, Gray." Hall says but then decides to come at me himself. He falls for trying to hit me with a body shot but doesn't count on the block with my knee before I hit him with a right hook in the ribs. I catch his shoulders and knee him in the stomach two times before I push kick him away from me to go in for a take down. His reactions are incredibly slow today. We grapple on the floor for a minute before he mounts me. He goes to punch, but I catch his arm and basically climb onto his back like the spider monkey Jim accuses me of being. I try to get him into a blood choke to end this because I am exhausted. He somehow manages to slam me onto the mat and the air leaves my lungs, but I roll and get back into a proper Muay Thai stance. He rushes forward and I meet him with a flying knee. I actually get him in the chin. His head snaps back and he looks dazed. I hook my foot around his ankle and tackle him to the ground. We grapple for a minute before I get him into a triangle choke. I apply as much pressure as I can because I know he won't give up. Three seconds.

"You will pass out." I say quickly but apparently it falls on deaf ears because he stops struggling. I release him and roll away.

"Good job, Gray." Commander Groff says and I nod as I get up and start walking back over to my usual group. I hear a shout and then I'm on the ground being punched repeatedly. I try as hard as I can to get my arms in to protect my face, but I can't. So I decide to box him in the ears as hard as I can manage. That gives the distraction they needed and they drag him off of me. Arms hook under my arms and I'm hauled up and taken over to the other side of the room.

"Get your hands off of me right now." I say in a clear voice. I can't see who it is and that is what is freaking me out right now.

"Commander, I'm taking her to the clinic." Simmons calls across the room, but it wasn't really something he was asking. He guides me out. "If I didn't leave, I was going to hurt him."

"I don't need people to hurt other people for me." My tone is off to me. "I don't want to go to the clinic. Let's go to the gym, I can clean myself up there."

"Olivia." He says and I'm not sure that I like that. He sounds very serious. "You need the clinic."

"I look that bad?" I ask and he nods. I must be keyed up with the adrenaline because I don't feel that bad. We make our way to the clinic and from the look on Leonard's face, it must be pretty bad.

"What the hell happened?" He asks as he comes over and puts an arm around me. "And you follow, because I want your story. She'll downplay it." We're in an examination room now. He lifts me onto the table and begins scanning me.

"Groff thought it would be a good idea to put her up against Hall. She kicked his ass. He got mad and attacked her from behind. The spar was over." Simmons says as he leans against the wall on the other side. Leonard injects me. "I think she's in shock."

"I'll say, that's the first time I haven't gotten a dirty look for injecting her with somethin'." Leonard says as he gently takes my chin and turns my head slightly. "This is gonna sting." He begins dabbing at a wound that's apparently over my left eyebrow. I inhale sharply. "You've got some bruising on your ribs too."

"Am I going to have a sexy eyebrow scar?" I ask and then I close my eyes. "That thing was laced with pain meds, wasn't it?"

"It's gonna start hurtin' once that adrenaline wears off, Darlin'." He says, amused. "You good, Simmons?"

"If I go back, I'm gonna kick his ass and she doesn't like that." Simmons says simply. "You don't mind, do you Gray?"

"I have no filter on pain meds. If you repeat anything you hear I might kill you, but otherwise no." I say and then I notice some jaw pain. "I hope he gets thrown out."

"Groff looked pretty pissed." He says and I inhale sharply again as Leonard starts doing something else.

"What happened to warning me?" I ask as my eyes move to Leonard's. He raises an eyebrow. "Anyway, I told him to tap out. He had like four seconds."

"The dreaded triangle choke?" Leonard asks and I nod. He finishes up with my forehead. "It doesn't look like you're bruisin' much."

"He hits like a girl compared to Marcus." I say and then I close my eyes. I've really got to focus now to not talk about that. "I guess all my good friends know about him now."

"The guy I remind you of?" He asks and I look at him, eyebrows furrowed. Leonard is scanning me again.

"You don't remind me of him, you guys are just built similarly." I say as I gesture to my shoulders. "The whole Dorito ratio." He laughs.

"Dorito ratio?" He asks and I give him an unamused look. "Doc, is there anything I can do to help. Mop that blood off her face or something?"

"I didn't realize I had that much blood on my face. I can wipe my own face, I'm a grown woman, damn it."

"Just be easy." Leonard says to me, stressing the easy part. "I've gotta grab somethin'." He helps me off of the bed before he leaves the room. I go over to the sink and I'm kind of shocked at how pale I am. My lip is split, which doesn't surprise me at this point. It's not too bad though. The wound through my eyebrow is still a little puffy, but it's closed for the most part. I grab an antiseptic wipe and begin to carefully wipe the blood away.

"I feel a little concussion-y. That must be what he's worried about." I say conversationally.

"How do you do this shit? I'm assuming that guy used to hit you? How do you do all that you do?" Simmons asks, he seems mad about it.

"Obviously I'm not great at it, but if I learn this part I can defend myself. When he gets out of prison, he's undoubtedly going to come and try to kill me again." I say and then I sigh. "You don't need to know my life story."

"Try to kill you again?" He asks and I sigh. It hurts. "What's this guy look like? Other than the Dorito ratio?"

"It's not important. You don't need to be involved in that. He's not coming for another two and a half years? Something like that." I wave it away. My face is clean of blood now. I turn and lean against the cabinet. "By that point, we'll hopefully be light years away from this place and he'll either go insane and get locked up forever, or I'll just have to deal with it when I come back to visit the McCoys because god knows I've got nothing else left on this planet."

"Jesus." He says and I sigh. "You weren't kidding about the no filter thing. What the hell happened to you?"

"I just come from a really shitty, really abusive family and then I started dating a childhood friend who also turned out to be really shitty and really abusive." I fold my arms across my chest. "I thought when I left, that'd be the end of it. My father said if I left Illinois, I was kicked out of the family. Boo fucking hoo." I roll my eyes. The headache is kicking in. "Marcus apparently didn't get the memo because he keeps trying to take me home. He is incredibly mentally ill." I shake my head a little. "Now quit interrogating me, this isn't fair when I can barely filter."

"I still want to know what he looks like. So if I see him, I can let you know." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "I'm not kicking Hall's ass right now, am I?" I yawn.

"I guess not." I shrug. "Maybe some other time." I go to take a step towards the bed and the world spins. Simmons catches me before I can fall. He sets me up on the bed. "Thanks."

"I guess at least you're here now." He says and I smile. "And I've seen how happy you look when you're with McCoy. You guys look like a Hallmark commercial sometimes."

"There's a lot more sass than Hallmark." I say and then I close my eyes. "But he does make me incredibly happy."

"I hope you're talkin' about me." Leonard says as he comes back. "You dizzy?" I nod. "I brought ya somethin' for that."

"This is part of the reason why I love you." I say and Simmons chuckles, further away now.

"This is your warning." Leonard says as he injects me. "You're done for the day. And lucky for you so is Jim, so I called him to babysit ya. I don't like that concussion you've got goin' on."

"I don't need a babysitter." I say as I open my eyes and give him a look. "I'll just go back to my room and you can call me every hour for an update if you want. I need sleep anyhow."

"It's true, she was star-fishing before all of this went down." Simmons says and I get a sassy eyebrow look from Leonard.

"You can go back to your room, but Jim's gonna be doin' homework on the couch while you're there and I'm not gonna argue with you about it." He says with a shrug. "He's more than capable of makin' a nuisance of himself without my help." Simmons' tricorder chirps and he walks out of the room to answer it. "Darlin', please."

"I don't need to be babysat." I say firmly and then I lay my head on his shoulder. "Please don't infantilize me."

"I'm sorry." He says, his arms coming around me for a moment. "It always bothers me when ya come in here lookin' like a bloody tissue."

"At least I walked in of my own volition." I say as I sit up straight and give him a winning smile. Then I kiss him. He kisses me back for a moment before he remembers where we are. "I couldn't help myself."

"I'll bet you say that to all of your doctors." He says and I wink. Simmons pokes his head back into the room.

"I'm heading back to class. Let me know if you need anything." He says and I give him a thumbs up before he's gone again.

"Are they in there?" I hear Jim ask and then two seconds later he walks through the door. "Jeez, Ollie. What happened to you?"

"Hall can't beat me unless it's a cheap, bitch tactic." I say and then I sigh. "I hate pain medication."

"I'm actually excited for Troian to find out about this." He says and I frown at him. "Come on, Ollie. That guy should not have been here in the first place."

"Aggressive meatheads in Starfleet?" I ask, pretending to be shocked. "As long as we haven't been a military operation, the tendencies are still there." I hop off the table and I get dizzy again. "That is incredibly annoying."

"Well quit jumpin' around." Leonard says and I roll my eyes. "Wake her up every so often."

"Bones, I've got this." Jim says, brushing off his concerns. "Ollie can handle me and I'm more persistent than she is stubborn."

"That's debatable." I say and then I stand up on my toes and kiss Leonard on the cheek. "Sorry for showing up bloody again."

"Don't let it happen again." He says and I smile before I look at Jim and sigh. "I'm serious, Darlin'. Take it easy."

"I promise. To the gym for my bag and then back to my room to sleep for at least three hours." I say as we leave the examination room. "Three to twelve hours. I've gotten maybe four hours of sleep over the past three nights, so I could use the catch up." I pretend not to notice the look he's giving me. "Come on, Jim."

"You fought that jerk on that little of sleep and won?" He asks and I shrug as we head out of the clinic.

"Tro has really helped me improve in all areas of combat. I just went into it wanting it to be done as soon as possible so I could go back to cat napping while everyone else did their spars." I say with a sigh. "I'm a little worried about my simulation next week."

"Hey, listen to me, you're literally one of the most intelligent people I know. If anyone can do it, it's you." He says and I smile at him. "At least this one isn't a surprise."

"This is true." I say and then I sigh again. "You're right…I've got to stop stressing about it because that will only weaken my game."

* * *

"So how did it go?" Tro asks as I walk out of the room where I'd been reviewed by the board overseeing my program. She and Jim are waiting for me.

"Well…" I say, looking at the ground. "I may have actually only missed one point in the entire simulation."

"If you're actually disappointed by that…" Tro lets the threat hang on the air and I look up and grin at them.

"I guess your tendency of obsessively studying is almost as strong as my natural talent." Jim says and I roll my eyes. "Bones is gonna say he told you so."

"He better not, I told him what would happen if he said it." I say as I push my hair back. Jim raises an eyebrow.

"You guys have a weird relationship." He says and I laugh. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Sleep." I say as I begin walking. I look at my watch. "Definitely sleep. I worked ahead on everything specifically to give myself this reward." We're walking towards the residence hall now. "How excited are you for me to return to regular Ollie weird?"

"You were what I like to refer to as Manic Ollie, so I'm glad to have you back, Peaches." Tro says and I smile. Then I see Josh and Jasper walking towards me with a woman. It dawns on me.

"Aunt Elizabeth!?" I exclaim and then I run forward to meet them. She grins as she holds out her arms and hugs me.

"How Jasper Michael did not think to tell me that my niece and nephew were here for six months, I will never understand." She says as she squeezes me tight. "Oh, you look so strong." I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Seeing Elizabeth is weird for me because she is my mother's identical twin sister. She releases me and takes my face in her hands. "Josh was telling me about a big simulation? How did it go?"

"I only missed one point." I say and she hugs me close again. "I can't believe you're here."

"I was going to try and surprise the both of you, but Abby spilled the beans when she mentioned you'd been watching Lydi to let us have date nights." Jasper says with a shrug. "I was working on something great too." He shakes his head.

"I don't care for surprises." Elizabeth says as she shoots her son a look. "Are these your friends?" I turn around and smile at Tro and Jim.

"Yes. This is Troian Sullivan, best friend and roommate. And then this is Jim Kirk, he just kind of shows up places. We've tried to get rid of him." I say and he rolls his eyes at me.

"It's great to meet the both of you. My name is Elizabeth, I'm Jasper's mother." She says as she shakes both of their hands. "Now I just have to meet the boyfriends. I was talking with Josh about all of us going out to dinner this evening maybe? Would Leonard be able to make it?"

"I'll have to make sure that he doesn't have any plans, but I'm sure he'd be more than happy." I smile. "He should actually be getting back now. He's as much a creature of habit as I am."

"Who are you callin' a creature?" Leonard asks as he approaches our now sizable group. I smile at him.

"Leonard, meet my aunt, Elizabeth." I say and he smiles before he steps forward to shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Leonard McCoy. I'm sure whatever Jasper has told ya is a lie." He says and she laughs.

"I know when to take him seriously. I'm sure you're an upstanding gentleman, Leonard." She says and then she clasps her hands in front of her. "I was just inviting you and Olivia to dinner this evening if you don't have plans already."

"Only somethin' I've been tryin' to get out of, so this is the perfect opportunity." He says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Grace and Fairchild." He rolls his eyes. "I'll pawn 'em off on Lee."

"Between Dr. Sunshine and Juarez, I can assure you dinner will be quite entertaining this evening, Mrs. Wayne." Jim says and then he looks to Tro. "We actually have something we need to get to. It's too bad about the simulation, Ollie. You'll just have to try again." He winks at me before the two of them leave.

"It's so terrible, she missed one point." Josh says with a shake of his head. "You bring disgrace upon this family."

"Up yours, Gray." I say and he grins at me. Elizabeth smiles. "Give us ten minutes to get changed?"

"Of course, you guys don't have to rush. Joshua and Jasper were giving me the brief tour. Just call when you're ready." She says and I smile before we part ways.

"Come over when you're ready?" I ask Leonard as I stand up on my toes and place a kiss on his lips.

"Alright, Darlin'." He says and I grin before I go into my room. I set my bag on my bed before I change into my favorite jeans and the new blouse that appeared in my closet by 'magic'. It does look good on me, but I wish that Troian had a little more self-control when she is forced to go shopping with Big Sul's girlfriend, Barbara. I hear the door open and I peek out of my door to see Leonard looking annoyed.

"What do you want me to do, Rachel? I tried talkin' to her, it was like talkin' to a little terrorist." He says, a little louder than I care to hear. He's not yelling, but I can easily see it getting there if she pushes the right buttons.

"Don't call your daughter a terrorist." I say at the same time as Rachel and I make a face at myself. "What's going on?"

"Joanna is on this new thing where she's back talkin' and not doin' as she's asked." He says and I nod.

"Okay, it's a little bit like negotiating with a terrorist, but I've got an idea to buy you guys some peace time." I say and he eyes me warily. "I'm not a parent, but I'm her cool, older friend. That gives me some leverage."

"I'm willin' to try anything at this point. Good Lord." Rachel says with a sigh. "Joanna, come in here right now."

"I told Daddy I didn't wanna talk to him anymore." I hear her stubbornly say and I purse my lips again to keep the smile off.

"Jojo, I've got a deal for you." I say and Leonard shakes his head. "We've got three weeks before you come here to visit with your grandparents? If you behave like the perfect angel I know you are, we can have a slumber party with Troian. This includes facials, movies, and I'll paint your nails." It's quiet for a moment.

"You promise?" She asks and I have to contain my laughter at the look of exasperation on Leonard's face.

"I'll hold up my end of the bargain as long as you stop talking back and you do as you're asked. I'm sure they're not asking you to build pyramids over there." I say, referencing history since I know it's one of her favorite subjects.

"Okay." She says and I smile. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I love you." I pat his arm before I go to the bathroom to style my hair. "And I love you too, Ollie!"

"I love you too, kiddo!" I call from the bathroom. I hear their goodbyes and then he leans in the doorway. I slide my last bobby pin into place before I look at him. "You okay?"

"I'm not gonna lie, it hurt when she said she didn't wanna talk to me." He says and I hug him.

"Oh honey, this is only the beginning. It's hard being a teenage girl. Other girls are mean, boys are incredibly stupid." I say with a sigh. "She's probably going to tell you she hates you at some point, but she won't mean it."

"They said havin' a daughter was gonna be tough." He says and then he shakes his head. Then he brushes his thumb across my cheek. "I'm glad to see you lookin' so happy."

"It's kind of weird to be honest." I say as I take one last look at my hair before I go back to my room and put on my favorite ankle boots. "She and my mom are identical twins. Like I know it's not her obviously, but when I first saw her…" I shake my head. "I guess I've never really talked to you about her, have I?"

"You haven't." He says and I go over and take a seat on the couch. "I tend to not push ya too much where your family's concerned." He sits down beside me and takes my hand.

"And I appreciate that." I smile at him. "She was a good enough mom…I mean…she didn't protect me from my dad, but when it was just the two of us it felt kind of okay." He puts his arm around me and I lay my head on his shoulder. "Elizabeth says that my dad sucked the life right out of her…it was like her sister died. She tried to get me to see that Marcus was going to try and do the same to me."

"But he didn't, and he won't." He says and then he kisses my forehead. "I'm here for ya, Darlin'."

"I know you are." I smile and roll my shoulders before I stand up. "Do you want to enjoy our favorite jeans or are you ready to go?"

"I've been enjoyin' 'em since I got here." He says with a grin before he stands up, dips me and gives me a really good kiss. "Our favorite jeans." He laughs. My tricorder alerts me to a message then.

"We've got good timing, they're heading to the restaurant now." I say, reading it as he stands me upright. "We're dragging Juarez there, I guess he's really freaked out about meeting her."

"In his defense, he probably didn't figure he'd be meetin' this much family when he got involved with Josh." He says and I shake my head. It's true, but still.

"He's used to being into the guys who haven't admitted to themselves that they are actually only into guys, so he hasn't met too many families." I sigh. "I hate when I have to strongarm him."

"Maybe you can just use that scary tone." He says and I smile. "Let's get a move on." He picks up my jacket and holds it out for me. I slide into it and we head down two floors and to Juarez's room. I press the button alerting him to our presence. He opens immediately and drags me inside. Leonard follows.

"I am freaking out. What if she hates me? What if she demands that I leave her nephew alone? Olivia. I'm pretty sure I love him." He is squishing my cheeks between his hands.

"Well she's not going to hate you, first of all." I say as I remove his hands from my face. "Second of all, even if she did, Josh is a grown ass man and he can make his own decisions about who he sees. Finally, if you're telling me that you love him, I think you love him." I pat his cheek. "Now get a move on, I was too nervous about my simulation to eat lunch and you know how I get when I'm hangry."

"I'm coming." He says with a huff. "Last time you were hangry you nearly bit me." I roll my eyes.

"That's an exaggeration." I say and he gives me a sassy look as he pulls on his jacket. He looks in the mirror and runs his hand through his hair before he looks at me. "You're beautiful, come on." I drag him by the hand towards the door. The three of us make our way to the restaurant and upon our arrival, I immediately pick up Lydia who is holding her arms out to me. "Hello beautiful!"

"I told her that she would be seeing her Ollie today and she got super excited." Abby says and I grin at her. "Hey Leonard."

"Abby, it's nice to see ya again." Leonard says, somewhat amused as he pulls out my chair for me. I sit down.

"Still obsessed with babies I see." Elizabeth says and then she looks at Juarez. "And you must be the infamous Mateo Juarez. I'm so happy to meet you, I'm Elizabeth."

"Infamous?" Juarez asks, not wearing a poker face at all. The entire restaurant can tell he's nervous. "Leave it to Josh to make up stories about me."

"They're all true stories, it's just whether or not you want to own up to it." Josh says and Juarez makes a face at him.

"I can't stand how cute you guys are." I shake my head. "Now to continue working on my evil plans." I position Lydia so that she's facing Abby. "Momma."

"She's going to say Dada first." Jasper says indignantly and I give him a sassy look. "She's a daddy's girl."

"Yeah, but I've been working with her." I say and then I point at Abby again. "That's your momma."

"Olivia, you know better than to tease him like that. He's sensitive." Elizabeth says and I laugh. "So Mateo, Josh tells me that you were Olivia's friend first?"

"Yes ma'am. It's kind of funny really, we were sitting with another one of our friends when I pointed him out. She kind of freaked out?" He lets out a nervous laugh.

"We would've run into each other eventually." Josh says with a shrug as he rests his arm along the back of Juarez's chair. "But I think I like how it worked out." Lydia squeals and reaches her arms out towards Abby who gets up and takes her from me.

"I wouldn't change a thing." Juarez says as he looks Josh in the eye and then he shakes his head and smiles. "Let's talk about how Olivia and McCoy met."

"Smooth transition." Leonard says as he takes a drink of water. "It's really not that extraordinary. We met on the shuttle over here from Iowa, became friends, and fell in love."

"Aww, you're in love with me?" I ask as I bump his shoulder with mine. "He led off with, 'Darlin', I'm a doctor'."

"My favorite part of their story is where she wasn't sure if he remembered her name or not since he almost exclusively calls her darlin'." Abby says and I shake my head.

"I do not almost exclusively call her darlin'." Leonard says and I think on it. "You want me to start callin' you Gray?"

"I like darlin'." I say sweetly. "I think you get it from your mom, to be completely honest. She almost always calls me sweetheart."

"She'll know better soon enough." Josh says and I laugh. "All that sass you've got in you?"

"On the contrary, Lucille McCoy loves my sass. She says I keep Leonard in line." I bump his shoulder with mine again.

"She loves it a little too much if you ask me." Leonard says with a shake of his head. "Pa thinks it's real funny too. I swear, they love her more than they love me and I'm the first born."

"Olivia tends to have that effect on people. All of the women in our family do. It's both a curse and a blessing." Elizabeth says with a wistful sigh. I laugh.

"We lure people in with how docile we look and then we hit them with the sass once it's too late." I say and then I glance at Juarez. "Josh has a gift for sass too, but Mateo is pretty sassy himself."

"Aw, you called me Mateo. Maybe you do actually like me." He says as he puts his hand over his heart. "We've been running back and forth between medical and our linguistics classes for a year now. I'm glad you're getting over that silly distance thing."

"Do you blame her?" Josh asks and I give him a look. "She's gonna find out sooner or later. It's probably better to warn her now."

"Warn me about what?" Elizabeth asks as she looks between the two of us. "What's going on?" Leonard's arm comes around my shoulders as opposed to being on the back of my chair.

"Marcus is in prison right now, but since before I even got here, he's been trying to 'take me home'." I say, using air quotes.

"Oh honey." She says softly. "I'm sure everything is going to work out in the end, but you know that your uncle and I are here for you no matter what." It's true…I just never thought I could go back to them after everything started. The server comes and we all order our food. "We've actually been considering moving here. I don't want to be away from Lydi."

"I can't blame you. She's an amazing little girl." I say as I look towards Abby. "And she always goes to sleep for Auntie Ollie, doesn't she?"

"You're a witch." Jasper says with a shake of his head. "I've tried the Hey Jude thing and it doesn't work."

"It works for me, Babe." Abby says with a shrug. "Maybe you should try another classical song?"

"You could try Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas." Josh suggests. "That's a good one.

"Solid choice." I agree with a nod. "But don't feel bad Jasper, I've never met a baby I couldn't get to go to sleep."

"I think you're just a kid whisperer in general. My daughter is startin' to go through that pre-adolescent rebellious stage." Leonard says with a roll of his eyes. "She wouldn't listen to me or her mother, but Olivia? Oh of course."

"I bribed her with a slumber party when she comes to visit." I say with a shrug. "At age nine I wanted two things. Independence and nail polish."

"It's true. I was often her test dummy with the nail polish. And I can't tell you how many times she almost fell out of trees because she wouldn't let me help her." Josh says, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, so that wasn't just a one-time thing was it, Miss Spider Monkey?" Leonard asks as he looks at me.

"I'm a grown ass woman, I can do what I want." I say and he rolls his eyes. "You're the one who couldn't find the ladder."

"You sound just like that clown." He shakes his head. "She and my brother like blamin' me for things."

"All the things we blame you for are true if you embrace technicalities." I shrug. "But then I made him freak out thinking he was starting to get gray hair, so I thought I had been forgiven."

"You're forgiven, but that doesn't mean I forgot about it." He says and I can hear the affection on his tone, but not everyone will.

"We should tone back the sass, Honey." I say as I reach up and pat his cheek. "I don't want to completely corrupt Lydi. Only minor corruption until she's…hmm…eight should be good. Just starting to get rebellious. I will nurture that stubborn streak and then she will someday head the galactic federation."

"I like the sounds of these plans." Abby says and then she looks to her daughter. "Did you hear that, Sweet Potato? Auntie Ollie is going to teach you all she knows about being stubborn."

"Between the two of you, this girl is going to end up being impossible." Jasper says with a sigh. "Maybe I should sign over parental rights to Ollie."

"Nah, I'll have my own someday. I've got until at least my early forties to figure the logistics out." I say and Elizabeth laughs.

"The logistics. I guess you're not wrong, but that's probably one of the least romantic ways I've heard someone talk about babies." She says and I grin.

"I can get into the medical side. There is nothing romantic about the medical side." I say and Juarez gives me a look. I raise an eyebrow at him, daring him to say something. "Have something to say, Juarez?"

"No ma'am." He says as he takes a drink from his glass. Our food arrives and dinner continues smoothly. Leonard and Juarez really do fit in well with this side of the family, which I didn't have any doubts.

* * *

"Olivia." Pete says from behind me to grab my attention. Leonard and I turn to see him walking with Hall. "Mr. Hall here has somethin' he'd like to say to you."

"I'm sorry." He says in a low voice. He won't look me in the eye. I look at Pete with my eyebrows raised.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. What did you have to say to Miss Gray?" Pete asks, louder this time. "And look her in the eye."

"I said, I'm sorry." He says as he looks at me. "I was out of line. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Of course she can, she's not a shit stain like you." Pete says and then he looks to me for a moment before he looks to Leonard. "If there are any more problems, I would like to hear about it directly and it will be taken care of."

"Christ, Pete." I say as I massage my temples. "Get out of here, Hall." He looks to Pete who nods before he leaves. "I didn't need you to do that."

"Somethin' had to be done since apparently Starfleet wasn't gonna do it." He says and I look to Leonard.

"Darlin', I know you may not agree with his method, but I think he makes a point. I'm not sure it's a good one, but it's a point." He says and I sigh.

"I didn't lay a finger on him if that's what you're worried about." Pete shrugs. "But if you told him to jump, he'll ask ya how high you want him to jump. This might come in handy."

"Thank you so much." I say sarcastically. "I don't need people to handle things for me. I'm perfectly capable."

"I know you are, but you don't got the nerve to do what you need to do. Not yet." He says and I sigh. "Let me see your hands." He looks at me expectantly, but I don't show him how my hands still shake. "There's that go fuck yourself look, now when your hands stop shakin', I might actually believe you can do what it takes."

"That's enough. Come on, Darlin'." Leonard says as he puts an arm around my shoulders and guides me away. I can tell he's angry. "I can't believe I agreed with that guy briefly."

"That kind of shocked me too." I say with a sigh. "He's right though. He doesn't have to be such an asshole about it…but he's right." We're riding the lift up to our floor now. I go right to my door and type in my code. He follows. "I've been trying so hard." I sit down on the couch and place my head in my hands. "I don't know if I can do this." I can't stop the tears.

"You can." He says as he sits beside me and rubs my back soothingly. "I know it's not necessarily your favorite thing to do, but maybe you should talk to someone about it."

"I don't know what more there is to talk about. It's a thing that happened, I'm not in that situation anymore, I should be over it." I say as I sit up and take a deep breath. "I don't want to talk to some stranger about it either."

"We're in kind of an ethical gray area, but you could talk to me about it." He says and I purse my lips.

"I don't like bringing up the way things used to be because I feel like it's kind of weird talking about my ex to my current boyfriend." I say and he takes a breath.

"Well, Darlin', you're not really leavin' yourself too many options, are you?" He asks gently. "And I know at some point you loved the man you thought he was, but for the greater part of that relationship you were essentially a prisoner. That's not even goin' into your childhood." He kisses my forehead. "It's an option. I'm gonna change and then I'm gonna come back and be annoyingly available to you."

"And I'll think about what you said." I say as I offer him a small smile. He tilts my chin up and kisses me. "You keep kissing me like that and there won't be talking."

"That is valuable information to have." He says as he gets up and leaves. I sigh, turn on my playlist for when I'm in a mood, and elect to take a shower. Afterwards I dress in my favorite shorts and my Starfleet sweatshirt and go back to the bathroom to brush through my hair.

"Do you listen to any recent music?" Leonard asks from the living room, successfully causing me to jump. "I'm sorry." He's holding his hands out like he's talking to a startled animal. I laugh.

"I thought you'd like Blake Shelton, since you're from Georgia and all. Country boys and whatnot." I say and he raises an eyebrow at me.

"I wasn't sayin' I didn't like it." He says and I roll my eyes lightly as I finish brushing my hair. I apply my products and scrunch it before I go back out to him. "I don't listen to much music."

"Music makes great company, not that I let myself be alone all that often." I say as I sit on the couch cross legged. "Computer, lower volume." It lowers the volume to an appropriate background noise level. "I think I want to talk about it."

"Are you sure?" He asks and I nod. He sits down beside me and I take a deep breath. "But first, why do you want to talk about it now?"

"Because I haven't really been dealing with it? Before, I drank to 'deal' with it. Then I started doing yoga and I use that mostly to keep my mind focused on the now. I did those mandatory therapy sessions, but I mostly just said things that I knew would get me out of it. I'm not proud of it, but I'm a good liar." I say and he takes my hand. "So what did Andrew tell you?"

"He said that the way Rachel approached you reminded you of the first time he hit you." He says and I nod.

"Well, not the first time he hit me. The first time he did real damage." I say and he brushes his thumb across the back of my hand. "I'd told him I was leaving him because it was the first time I caught him cheating on me. Then of course he turned that into it being my fault. I was too fat. I wasn't pretty enough. Nothing I did was good enough."

"I guess I didn't realize that the weight thing wasn't a choice. I'm sorry for harpin' on ya so much, Darlin'." He says and I smile a little. "You know that's all horseshit, right?"

"I know I'm very pretty, that was the problem before I lived with Marcus. My father was afraid I was going to be a slut because of it." I say sagely. "And I like to think I'm working on the being satisfied with the things I do, but that one point is killing me though. It's not like I completely messed the thing up."

"I think that part might just be an Olivia thing." He says, amused by that thought. "What else is on your mind?"

"I don't know." I sigh and look at our hands. "I guess…there's part of me that still follows some of the rules and that bothers me, because there aren't rules. I mean, there are, but not…not those rules."

"Well were some rules that you 'break' now." He asks, using one hand to make air quotes.

"I have male friends." I say with a small smile. "My legs get to see daylight, not that it makes a big difference. I eat whatever the hell I want. I don't keep my opinions a secret." I look at him. "It wasn't an established rule, but I'm not weak anymore."

"Alright, what are some rules you still follow?" He asks and I purse my lips and I feel tears welling up.

"I have this irrational fear of making too much noise." I say and then I shake my head. "Your mom mentioned how the three of you sound like elephants moving around the house and I was like a mouse. I'm that way here with Tro too, but it's easier to not make noise in a building like this so it isn't as bad. Being quiet isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's the anxiety associated with it that I need to break." He nods, shifting us so that we're laying down together. He tilts my chin up and he kisses me gently. "Now this next one isn't you based at all, got it?" He nods again. "I'm afraid of bothering you."

"Darlin', I know I call ya a pain in the ass, but you don't bother me." He says and I smile a little bit again. "You actually bother me the least."

"But I drive you crazy." I say and he considers that. My heart rate picks up as he takes his sweet time.

"Yeah, but mostly in the good ways. It drives me nuts when you're stubborn, but you make me a good crazy, Darlin'." He says and I let out a breath. "Did that make you anxious?"

"A little." I laugh and hide my face in his chest. "Time is the only thing that's going to fix this, huh?"

"Unfortunately, you're right." He says and then he gently peels me back so he can look at my face. "But I'm gonna be right there with ya." He brushes his thumb across my cheek. "And I'm gonna love you for bein' exactly who you are. Maybe just a little less reckless, but other than that I don't have any more requests."

"How else am I supposed to get brave if I'm not a little reckless?" I ask and he tucks my hair behind my ear.

"Well, you're already pretty damn brave. I imagine the rest of it will come with the job." He says and I nod. "You don't have to fight the biggest guy in the room to be brave."

"That's not to be brave. That's to establish dominance." I smirk at him and he raises an eyebrow.

"And you were sayin' you can't do this?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "Darlin', you can do this. You're already halfway through the training. You're at the top of your class."

"Okay, Dr. McCoy, class is different from real life." I say and he rolls his eyes. "I can get near-perfect scores on all of the simulations, but that's what they are. Simulations." I take his face in my hands and I kiss him. "Don't worry, I'm not giving up. I'm more shaken by the whole thing with Hall than I've let on."

"I knew you were." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "I'm your boyfriend, it's my job to know these things. Why do you think I've been stayin' until you fall asleep every night?"

"Because you're a weirdo who likes watching me sleep?" I ask and he squeezes my sides. I almost fall off the couch, trying to get away and he laughs as he wraps his arms around me. "Because you're conducting weird, ethically questionable experiments on me?"

"Is it just gonna keep gettin' more weird?" He asks and I shrug. "If you think I'm such a weirdo, why do you stay with me?"

"It chooses you." I shrug again, but then I smile. "I like the way you want to be there to support me, not just take care of me." I hum. "That's what drew me in, but then your sleepy voice really sealed the deal."

"My sleepy voice?" He asks and I nod. He's amused by that idea. "Of all the things to seal the deal."

"Yeah? What sealed the deal for you?" I ask and he thinks on it and then he shakes his head. "Come on."

"It's too serious for this conversation." He says and I raise my eyebrows. "I'm not gettin' out of it now, am I?"

"Not on your life." I say as I move so that I'm on top of him. "I have ways of making you talk."

"I happen to enjoy those ways." He says and I roll my eyes. "Fine, I'll talk." He sighs. "It's not the only thing, but like you said, the thing that really," He puts a lot of emphasis on that one word. "sealed the deal was the day of that big fight with Rachel…when I was cleanin' up after we took care of your hand and I came back to see you and Joanna huggin' like you were. I may have gotten a little misty eyed." I gasp. "Just a little."

"Oh, okay." I say as I mime wiping sweat off of my forehead. "That was a close one, I thought you were going to shatter your image of masculinity. How are you going to build back up your tough guy cred?"

"Well…you mention that…" He says one of his hands moves from my waist. I grab his hand and move it back. "Message received."

"Thank you." I place a kiss on his lips before I move back to laying beside him. "Not saying I'm totally not interested, but I don't like it being preceded in the way that it was."

"I realized that about half way in, but by that point I'd already made an ass out of myself." He says and I laugh. "This is one of those good ways you drive me crazy."

"I just remembered another way I break the rules." I say with a laugh. "Our favorite jeans."

"Those are good jeans." He agrees with a nod. "And I am incredibly happy that they are empowering to you and I would love for you to take advantage of that any chance you get."

"I'll bet you would." I say with a roll of my eyes. "And again, I say you're incorrigible." He shrugs and I roll back to look at the time. "I'm not sure if she's secretly meeting someone or she's doing the thing that I do where she keeps herself too busy to think about stuff."

"Maybe it's both." He says and I sigh. "Troian Sullivan is an incredibly mysterious woman."

"She still thinks you're scared of her." I say and he looks a little indignant. "Honey, if I could tell you, I'd tell you why it's okay to be."

"That bad, huh?" He asks and I make a face. "Well, I'm not scared of her. I just don't know her well enough."

"You're like one of her closest friends." I say and he thinks on that. "In terms of Tro, you're probably one of the best friends she's ever had. It's kind of like this, I knew a guy from Scully's and his view on friends was the less you knew about them, the better. He didn't even know his best friend's name."

"How does that work?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. "The more I hear about this place, the more horrified I get at the idea of you bein' there."

"It was the least likely place for anyone to look for me." I shrug. "And Thomas didn't let me get as drunk as I liked, so that was good too. And he called an end to Tequila Tuesdays where I would teach the fresh blood how to do tequila shots."

"The more I hear about this Thomas, the more I like him." He says with a shake of his head. "Tequila Tuesdays."

"I don't even like tequila." I say with a laugh. "But when I wasn't sad drinking, I was a really fun drunk. When I'm confident in my emotional state, I might lift the alcohol ban on myself."

"I'm here to support ya no matter what." He says and I smile. "And you'd like tequila if you had the right one. I'll get ya the good stuff if you ever get to that point."

"You just want to meet Tequila Tuesday Ollie. Well I'm afraid I'm getting too old for that." I say and he gives me a long look. "Three years makes a big difference. I've already been an alcoholic and gotten sober and made several huge life changes. I'm practically eighty."

"In that case, I'd better get a move on. You've already jumped twenty years since we last talked about this." He says and I can't help the giggle. "I've got a lot of birthdays to make up for." He starts kissing all over my face, causing me to giggle more.


	13. I'll Be Gentle

_Enjoy! 3_

* * *

I walk down the hall towards the classroom where Leonard is about to be out of his final class for the day with Joanna on my back. Cadets begin filing out of the classroom and Leonard gets a big smile on his face when he sees us.

"Well if this isn't the best surprise." He says and she lets go of my shoulders and slides down my back, almost causing me to fall over before she runs over and jumps into a hug. "Easy, Sweetheart, you're gonna break Miss Ollie."

"Sorry." She says, but she doesn't really look too apologetic as she buries her face in her father's neck.

"That's okay." I say as I make the rest of the way to them. "I sent your parents on a date because they told me how long it's been since they've had a trip together. I gave her the grand tour of linguistics. I figured you could handle the medical side."

"There's still more?" She asks, exasperated. "And you run back and forth from here to there? Every day?"

"Every time we see two ants outside, running, we know that it's Juarez and Gray." Grace says as he walks up with Fairchild.

"Joanna, these are my colleagues. Dr. Fairchild and Dr. Grace." Leonard introduces them. "This is my daughter."

"I don't think you had to tell them that, she's basically the girl version of you and Andrew." I say and Joanna makes a face. "I'm sorry, the much cuter, girl version. Probably tougher too."

"I try." She says with a shrug and the two men laugh. "So you're studyin' to be good space doctors like my dad?"

"Yes we are." Fairchild says with a smile. "To keep an eye on the people who get into trouble, like Olivia."

"She gets people out of trouble." She defends me, getting a sassy look like her father would have. "She says that her job is gonna be to help people better understand each other so they don't have to fight."

"She's got you there." Leonard says and then he kisses her cheek. "If you'll excuse us, I have a couple of beautiful ladies to take to dinner."

"See you on Wednesday. It was lovely meeting you Joanna." Grace says and Fairchild nods his agreement before we leave them.

"So what'd you think of linguistics?" He asks and she actually seems to ponder this as he sets her down and takes her hand.

"It was kinda cool. I met Commander Spock, he's from Vulcan!" She exclaims and I smile. "He taught me a little bit about phonology."

"Yeah? You think you're gonna wanna be a linguist?" He asks and she looks up at him. He laughs. "It's not for everybody."

"I know that I wanna be a doctor like you." She says as she looks around. "I wanna come here too. Everyone is so different, but they get along!" He looks proud.

"You can do anything you want, Sweetheart. I'm gonna support you no matter what you decide you wanna do." He says and I smile.

"I think you'll be a great doctor. You've already got a better bedside manner than your dad does." I say and he gives me a look.

"It's true, Daddy, you should smile more." She looks up at him. "Like when you saw me and Miss Ollie! You should smile like that all the time."

"That's a special occasion smile." He says and I roll my eyes. "I only smile at people when I'm happy to see 'em."

"Then you should work on bein' more happy to see people." She says and he gives her a look that just makes her laugh. "Uncle Andy says it's important to help people feel comfortable when they're hurt."

"Don't worry, Jojo, he's typically pretty good about helping patients feel at ease." I say and she looks up at me. "I think it's only his friends he's sassy to. Like Jim."

"Am I gonna get to meet Jim?" She asks, looking at her father now who gives a little sigh.

"Yeah, I think he'll be able to behave himself." He says and I shake my head. "Have you met Miss Troian yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm so excited! Ollie showed me what they picked up for our slumber party!" She exclaims and I smile.

"A deal's a deal. My sources say that you've had model behavior the past three weeks." I say and she gives a sweet smile. "There's that deceptively sweet smile."

"Hey Gray, who's this?" Simmons asks, and how I hadn't noticed he and Daniels approaching, I'll never know.

"Guys, this is Joanna. She's Leonard's daughter. Jojo, these are my friends…uh…what are your first names again?" I ask as I look up at them. This is my joke. "I'm kidding. Jacob Simmons and Heath Daniels. They've been in most of my combat classes with me." She's basically hiding behind me now.

"It's nice to meet you." She says and I smile as I put an arm around her shoulders, comfortingly. "She never shows me any of the combat stuff."

"It'd probably be a little scary to be honest." Simmons says as he crouches down, picking up on the fact that she's incredibly intimidated. "But you don't need to worry, she'll be good at protecting herself and her friends. What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"Oh, that's easy. I'm gonna be a doctor like my daddy. I'm going to come here and everything." She says this confidently. "But I want to learn more about what they do here. Does Miss Ollie look after you too? Like she does my daddy and Jim."

"She did help me out when I hurt my arm last week." Daniels says and I smile. "Hey, wait a minute. You pull that reverse psychology stuff on us, don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I say as I pull Joanna back onto my back and start walking. "See you in class, boys!" I call sweetly. "You can't let the burly ones know that you're looking out for them when you're small like me. It makes them feel inadequate."

"Noted." She says and I see Leonard roll his eyes. "Jacob is really tall." She squeezes me a little tighter.

"They're two of the nicest guys I know. Back when I wasn't very strong or good with the combat stuff, they looked out for me. One time we were on the obstacle course and Daniels didn't even have to think about helping me get over an obstacle. The three of us make a great team." I say and she hums, extra thoughtful. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"If I wanna come here, I should probably work on getting strong as I grow, right?" She asks and I look to Leonard.

"Maybe not quite in the same ways as Ollie, but if you want to play a sport or somethin', I'm sure between you, me, and your momma, we could figure out somethin' that'll work for you." He says diplomatically.

"And you best believe we will video call to watch every single match or game." I say and he smiles.

"Maybe you can teach me more about basketball while I'm here!" She exclaims and I shrug.

"Maybe, but we've got so many other things planned. We might be having too much fun to get into that." I say and then we arrive at our residence hall. "And here we are, where your daddy and I live." I let her slide off of my back and she takes my hand, a little apprehensive as we go inside and take the lift to our floor. We go to his room and Jim is sitting on the couch when we enter.

"Joanna, this is Jim Kirk." Leonard says and she offers him a wave. Jim smiles as he gets off the couch, walks over and offers his hand to her. She shakes it.

"Whoa, you've got a great handshake. It's nice to meet you. I hear about you all the time between these two." He says, gesturing to us. "Let me go get Troian, I know you were excited to meet her."

"Okay." She says, her eyes wide as she looks up at me. He winks at her before he leaves the room. "He's pretty."

"He knows." Leonard and I say at the same time. I laugh. "He wants to be captain of a ship someday."

"I think he'll be good at it." She says with a shrug before she looks around. "So it's kinda like an apartment."

"Mhm." He says and then he goes over and opens the door to his room. "And this is where I sleep." She goes over and takes a peek. "Ollie lives right next door."

"Yup, it was randomly assigned that way our first year and then we just kept our rooms since there really wasn't a reason to change things." I say and she smiles.

"I guess I always just thought you guys lived together. Since you guys stay in the same room at Mamaw's house." She says and Leonard ruffles her hair.

"Nope, I love Troian too much to leave her." I say and then I hear as the door opens and Tro walks in with Jim.

"Aww, Peaches." She says as she puts her hand over my heart. Then she looks to Joanna. "My goodness, you're even cuter in person. Hi there, I'm Troian."

"It's nice to meet you." Joanna says, somewhat starstruck. Since I told her about Tro, she's been enamored with her. Tro is pretty thrown off, but she hides it well.

"I don't know about you, but I am so excited for our slumber party on Friday. Did Ollie show you what we picked up?" She asks and Joanna grins.

"She did! I'm so excited to hang out with you guys! Do you want to come to dinner with us!?" She looks between Tro and Jim.

"Well, if you dad doesn't mind." Jim says with a shrug. "We would be more than happy to."

"What he said." Tro nods to Jim. Leonard looks to me and I shrug. It's not my choice at all.

"If that's what you want, Sweetheart. I'm gonna get changed, you listen to Miss Ollie." He says and she gives a dutiful nod.

"I wish that we could just take all of your friends to dinner so I could meet them! I want to meet Josh and Juarez! And Miss Uhura!" She says as she goes over to the couch and sits down. She's still looking around the room.

"Juarez can be a little much sometimes. I want to ease you into meeting him." I say as I sit down beside her.

"That's probably for the best, but between Josh and Uhura, they might be able to reign him in if you can't." Tro says and Joanna giggles. "You are literally the cutest."

"You're really pretty." She says, sounding pretty shy now. Tro looks a little taken aback. "I really like your hair."

"Thank you." She says as she pulls her braid over her shoulder. Having long hair is something that she wasn't allowed in her old life. So in a way, we're kind of flip flopped. I keep my hair short now and she only trims away her dead ends. Jim's tricorder chirps. "But you've literally got the best curls."

"If you ladies will excuse me." He goes into his room. Tro comes around and sits on Joanna's other side on the couch. She turns to look up at her.

"So what are you gonna do once you graduate?" She asks and Tro purses her lips as she thinks.

"You know? I'm not too sure. Some people want me to try and be a captain, but I don't know if that's what I want. So I'm just playing it by ear, learning what I can about command." She says and I smile.

"Miss Ollie says that you should always do what makes your heart happy, even if it's scary." She says and Tro looks at me.

"That's a solid piece of advice. We're pretty lucky that she's our best friend, aren't we?" She asks and Joanna nods.

"Oh! That reminds me! All of my really good friends call me Jojo, so you can too." She says and Tro smiles again.

"In that case, you can call me Tro. That's almost exclusively what Ollie calls me. Well, in mixed company. We're usually Peaches and Honey." She laughs. "That's kind of reversed, isn't it?"

"You're the one who started calling me Peaches." I say with a shrug. "I don't hate it. But the question is…outside of Jojo, what are we going to call her?"

"I'm kind of feeling Sweet Pea." She says and Joanna's eyes light up. "You're definitely Sweet Pea." Leonard comes out of his room and she runs over and jumps into his arms.

"Daddy, I'm Sweet Pea!" She cries and he laughs as he catches her and lifts her up into his arms.

"Sweet Pea? I can see it. Good work, Sullivan." He says and she shrugs. Jim comes out of his room.

"It looks like we're all ready now." I say as I stand up and stretch. "I've got some pretty cute dates for this evening." I walk over and take Joanna from him before I set her down. Tro walks over and the three of us leave the room.

"Now hold on a just a minute!" Leonard calls and this sends Joanna into a fit of giggles. I look over my shoulder at him and wink.

* * *

"Commander Spock, may I have a few moments of your time?" I ask as I walk into the classroom that he had been teaching in moments ago. "Some of my questions may be a little presumptuous could be taken as rude, but I don't mean for them to be."

"I have forty-five minutes before my next lecture. You may pose your queries." He says and I take a breath.

"I am aware that you are half-Vulcan and half-human, therefore, it would stand to reason that emotion is different for you than most Vulcans." I start and then I shake my head. "I'm stalling. I came to you because you witnessed my last encounter with my ex-fiancé. It has affected me more than I wanted to admit. I have the option of therapy, but I don't want someone to sit there and dissect the rest of my life because that doesn't matter to me anymore. I came to you because I have established that logic might be the key to helping me overcome the strong emotional responses I've been having to certain stimuli. Who better to help with thinking more logically than someone of Vulcan heritage?"

"I acknowledge how difficult it must have been for you to come to me with your query." He says and I expected just about that response. "However, as I am not familiar with your situation, I am unsure that I could assist you. Unless perhaps… I will need to ponder this idea further. I will contact you with potential appointments we could schedule to speak further."

"Thank you." I say and he nods. "That's all, I should get going. Thank you for your time." I turn and walk away. This was a mistake. Hopefully none of the appointments will work out with my schedule. As I exit the building, I spot Pete and a thought I had recently comes straight to the forefronts of my mind. "You're either leaving San Francisco or you came to apologize."

"And what do I need to apologize for?" He asks, crossing his arms and tilting his head back ever so slightly. He looks like my father. Once I noticed the way that one of his nostrils was slightly smaller than the other, I saw everything else fall into place.

"You were entirely out of line in speaking to Hall on my behalf." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "There is also the matter of how much of an asshole you were to me in that same conversation. It was low, even for you."

"So you're startin' to realize what a piece of shit I am? Good." He says and I roll my eyes and fold my arms across my chest, looking unimpressed with him. "You're like a sister to me." Or I am actually his sister. I just need to figure out how to prove it. "Nobody is any better than you are and it pisses me off that you still think that way. So I'm not gonna apologize for tellin' you that you don't have what it takes yet."

"Fuck you." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "You're standing there right now talking like you're better than me. Go screw yourself. My hands may shake, but I'm working on it. I'm more than capable of doing what I need to do to look after myself. I don't know what it is you think I need to do, but I assure you, I can handle myself."

"Prove it then." He says and I raise an eyebrow in question. "We'll go spar in that room you and Sullivan train in."

"You? Spar?" I ask dubiously. He shrugs and starts walking towards the gym. I've got an hour and a half to entertain this idea. "I'll spar with you if you tell me the truth about who you really are. Like if your name is actually Eugene Vandergloop or something really embarrassing. Where you come from. That whole thing."

"Why? You got some ideas about who I might be?" He asks, glancing over his shoulder at me. "Took ya long enough."

"Wait, you're going to give it up that easy?" I ask and his shoulders shake with a silent laugh. "So I've got to prove myself to you for the privilege of that information? I'm thinking no."

"Tell me your theories." He says and I'm walking beside him now. "I'm assuming you've got more than one."

"Actually, you caught me, Eugene Vandergloop is it." I say and he raises an eyebrow at me. "We can wait until we're there because I'm pretty sure it's right. My gut is telling me it's true." I take the lead then. We arrive at the gym and I change into my typical training apparel and we go to the room. I close the door. "Alright. You ready?"

"Sure." He says as he tosses his jacket down onto the bench and he steps out of his boots. I kick off my tennis shoes and move to stand across from him. "Shall we talk and spar? Or spar first and talk later?"

"We can talk and spar." I say as I pull the top half of my hair into a bun. "I'm ready." He comes at me fast. I block and parry his attacks. "So, typically women in my situation are part of a cycle of abuse. Meaning, I dated Marcus because he was like my father. So I'm assuming that my father cheated on my mother frequently." I land a powerful low kick and his knee buckles. I quickly hook his leg and knock him over. I pin him. "So it stands to reason that around the time Josh was born, so were you, but obviously from another woman." He gets out of my pin and shoves me away.

"What makes you think that piece of shit is also mine?" He asks before he comes back at me.

"You act nothing like him, but you have the same coloring and similar features." I say as I go for a high kick. He shoves my foot away and lunges for me. I brace my hand on the floor and use my body like a pendulum to swing into another kick. I get his ribs good. "Also, your nostrils oddly enough. I'm sure that's not an incredibly common trait." He grabs my shoulders and I grab onto his wrists and use that as leverage to bring both of my legs up and kick him as hard as I can in his solar plexus. I release his wrists and land on my feet to go back at him with another attack before he has a chance to collect himself. I jump into a flying knee and get him in the chin. I bring my elbow down. I land and hook his foot again. He falls backwards. "So, am I right?"

"You haven't proved yourself yet." He says as he rolls back onto his feet. "I haven't even gotten started yet."

"Me either." I say and then we're exchanging blows. I'm doing my best to not stay on the defensive the entire time, but he's an experienced fighter.

"Come on, fight me like you mean it." He says as he snakes through my defense and punches me in the stomach hard. I double over briefly and throw myself to the side to avoid his next attack. I spin into a back kick and he coughs as I kick him in the neck. "There it is. You've gotta fight dirty if you're gonna go anywhere." He stops and rubs his Adam's apple.

"I actually missed. I was aiming for your solar plexus again." I say dryly. "So are you going to tell me if I'm right or not?"

"Why can't I just be some guy who cares about you?" He asks as he stands with his arms folded across his chest.

"Because you're not that kind of guy. There are only three reasons you deal with people. The first is for sex. That's not me because I'm not your type. The second is because the individual has something that you can use. Again, that's not me. I was just a stupid girl whose boyfriend smacked her around when you met me. The third reason you bother with people is for family. I know for a fact you love your mother." I say and he stares me down.

"So what's it mean to you if I am your half-brother?" He asks, not betraying either way. I fold my own arms across my chest.

"It means that my family is just a little bigger. It also makes more sense why you want to kill people for me all the time." I say and that brings a bit of a smirk to his face. "So?"

"Yeah, we share the same piece of shit father." He says and I smile a little. "And my name isn't Eugene whatever."

"Eugene Vandergloop? That's disappointing." I say and he actually laughs a little bit. "Why the big mystery?"

"Because I do really run in the private sector." He says with a roll of his eyes. "Not that anyone would dare lay a fuckin' finger on you."

"Does this mean I get to know how you got your nickname now?" I ask and he gives me a look. "You're thirty-four-years-old? How the hell do you get a nickname like that this young?"

"Jailhouse rules, kid. Pick the biggest, ugliest bastard and mess 'em up." He says and I actually laugh. Doubled over, holding my stomach laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I operate on jailhouse rules." I say and he shakes his head. "Hey, this guy was six-three, two-hundred and twenty pounds. I destroyed him."

"Atta girl." He says and I shake my head now. "This is weird, I didn't think it'd ever actually come out."

"Well now I have to give you a hug." I say as I walk over and tentatively give him a hug. After a moment, his arms come around me. "So did I prove myself?"

"It was a start." He says, letting go of me. I take a step back. "You okay?" I assess myself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I do have a class to get to though. We'll talk about this more?" I ask and he nods. "Is Pete really your name?"

"Well, Peter, but yeah." He says and I smile. "I'll talk to you later, kid." He goes to ruffle my hair, but I knock his hand away. "Atta girl." I go over and put my tennis shoes back on. "What class you goin' to?"

"AC 305. It's where that fight with Hall happened." I look over at him as he pulls his jacket back on.

"I'll walk you over there and say hello to our friend Mr. Hall." He says and I give him a look. "We're real good friends."

"I'll bet you are. No, I don't need walked to class. Thanks." I roll my eyes. "Just because I know you're my brother now doesn't mean that you get to make choices about how you handle people who cross me."

"I know." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "Had we grown up together? Marcus would be dead."

"We don't get to make that sort of call." I say and he shrugs, I guess agreeing to disagree. "He's mentally ill."

"Mentally ill or not, he still put you in the hospital more times than I can count." He says and I sigh. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna rough anyone up on your behalf unless you ask me to."

"Don't hold your breath." I say and then I sigh. "Alright, well call me later. And actually give me a better way to contact you than going to a smelly dive bar."

"You just jogged in there in your cute little outfit. Oh, I laughed for a good five minutes after you left." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Bye, Pete." I say and then I head to my classroom. Daniels comes over to me as soon as I enter. It's weird. "Yes?"

"I need some advice." He says with a sigh. "There's this girl I like, but she has a kid. You have some experience with that."

"Okay, what specifically is your question?" I ask and he looks at me like it should be obvious. "Just because she has a kid doesn't mean she's not just like any other girl you might be interested in. You just need to respect the fact that you're not going to be her first priority ever and you can go fuck yourself if you think you should be."

"Whoa, Gray. Relax." He says, holding up his hands in defense. I close my eyes and laugh a little at myself.

"Sorry, I just spent some time with my more abrasive brother who grew up on the East coast." I open my eyes and he shakes his head.

"My question is more about how I should interact with the kid? You were pretty chummy with your guy's daughter." He says and I smile.

"As long as the mother is okay with it, I would befriend the child. Joanna thinks its funny that I'm just as sassy as her dad is. As things get more serious, it's just a matter of laying boundaries." I say and he nods. "Obviously I don't know your situation, but in my case, Leonard and his ex-wife co-parent. If the child's father is involved, you've got to have respect for him and support the girl. I hope this has helped."

"It has." He says and then he looks away. "Thanks. This hasn't been weird, has it?" I sigh heavily.

"It's not the weirdest thing that's happened today. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you." I say as I playfully jab his shoulder.

* * *

"Uhura, what's going on?" I ask as she leads me across campus. It's a Friday night and typically she would be in one of the labs.

"I'll explain when we get there." She says and I let it drop. We arrive at the slightly off campus apartment complex where those who typically don't spend a lot of time on Earth reside. Quite a few instructors live here. She leads the way inside and we take the lift up and she goes straight to a door towards the end of the hall and notifies the inhabitant to our arrival. The door opens to a relatively casual looking Commander Spock.

"Explanation?" I ask as I look to Uhura. He gestures us inside, so I follow her in and he closes the door.

"Seeing as though you are well-acquainted with…Nyota, I took it upon myself to ask for her assistance in figuring out a solution to the problem you approached me with." Commander Spock says and I nod.

"We figured that the best way to help you might be for him to perform a mind meld, if you are okay with that. I know that you are incredibly private with what has happened in your past and I get that." She says and I nod. "He's helped me deal with some stuff."

"And this is the only way you think you might be able to help me?" I ask and he nods. I take a breath.

"It would be illogical to assume that I have anything to gain by doing this. If that is what you are concerned with." He says and I shake my head.

"No. It's just…a lot." I say and then I realize that I'm chewing on my lip and I stop it. "So we delve into everything once and you can help me? No emotional recollections?"

"The initial process will be quite emotional, but after that, for the most part, it should more closely reflect your desired outcome." He says and I purse my lips.

"He brought me in as well because we are pretty close, all things considered about our arrangements." Uhura says and I smile a little. "You're kind of like a sister to me." She makes a face.

"Gross." I joke and she smiles. "I know that a mind meld is deeply emotional. Are you sure you're okay with that Commander?"

"You fear that the way you have not coped with your past experiences will inhibit your future in Starfleet with your duties as a mediator. I believe that I will be able to help you by performing the mind meld, therefore, this serves to benefit the future of Starfleet." He says and I raise my eyebrows. "You are shocked that I am certain of your abilities?"

"I'm sure you'll see all the self-doubt when you dive in there." I say, not sounding unlike Leonard. "Oh jeez. I need to spend less time with Leonard."

"I think it's kind of cute." Uhura says and I roll my eyes. "So you do want to go through with it?"

"I trust the both of you. I know that you would never advise me to do something that might hurt me. And I trust that this would be incredibly illogical if it weren't to benefit us in the future. Because I'm hoping that Captain Pike will pick me up and I know that you're his first officer, so that probably means he's mentioned it at least." I say and he betrays nothing, as expected. "So what's next?"

"Have a seat." He gestures to a couch and I go over and sit down. Uhura takes a seat beside me. "It is easiest if you do not attempt to recall anything right away." I nod as I close my eyes and employ the tactics I normally use to clear my mind for meditation. "I am going to begin."

Spock severs the link and I open my eyes and see that there are actually a few tears in his eyes. Uhura rubs my back soothingly as she looks between the two of us. He takes a seat and he wipes his eyes.

"That is quite a lot." He says and I close my eyes again. "But I believe that I can help you achieve what you wish to accomplish. Though, I have some concerns with how you did not report the one who claimed to be your relation."

"Well, if you embrace technicalities, it's not a lie." I say and Uhura raises an eyebrow at me. "So this guy I met at the bar I used to hide out at actually ended up being my half-brother who hunted me down. I'm still not a hundred percent on what's going on with that."

"It is a lot." Spock confirms. "I have to admit, it is remarkable what you have accomplished given your circumstances. It lays the base of what I intend to teach you. While what happened to you did occur, there is nothing that causes me to believe that you will revert back to the lifestyle you previously lived. So it stands to reason, that we must teach you to embrace logic over the thoughts you have stating otherwise."

"When you say it like that, it sounds like I should be able to do that on my own." I say and Uhura rubs my back again.

"Sometimes you can't do things on your own, no matter how badly you want to." She says and I feel tears spring to my eyes again. "You're not alone."

"It's not that I feel alone. I just…" I stop as my emotions threaten to get the best of me. "Commander Spock, can you?"

"She is fearful of burdening those she has come to care for with the contents of her past. She is also fearful that by being involved with her, a threat is posed to their well-being." He says and I nod.

"He's in prison, I shouldn't be this scared of him hurting any of you." I say once I feel I have control again. "I just feel like there is this giant boot hanging over me, ready to…"

"I am struggling to understand how you believe that any of what has happened is your fault." Spock says and I look at him. "Some of the supposed triggers to their behavior…"

"Just further proof that I need more logic." I say with a sigh. "And here I thought I was a relatively stable human."

"You are." Uhura says firmly. "But if you tell someone something enough, they start to believe it."

"Oh yeah, I'm familiar with that." I say and then I look at Spock again. "Do you think this was a mistake?"

"I do not." He says and I guess I'm just going to have to take that as good enough. My tricorder chirps.

"This is Gray." I say as I answer, concerned that something might be wrong, because why wouldn't it be? This isn't a good time.

"Darlin', I'm sorry to bother ya when you're spendin' time with Uhura. But is there anyway you could come and talk some sense into Jim? He's lost his damn mind." Leonard says and I can hear the music from the club they're at in the background. "I'm tryin' to get him home."

"Tell him that if he goes home peacefully, I'll tell him Uhura's first name." I say as I shake my head at my friend. "If he chooses to argue on that point, tell him that he does not want to make me come down there because I'll make him regret meeting me. If that doesn't work, I'd use one of those holds I taught you."

"Alright, Darlin'. Have a good time." He says and I close the tricorder before I sigh, there's a smile on my face though.

"Is there a particular reason that you have not made Dr. McCoy aware of asking for my assistance?" Spock asks and I sigh again.

"Right now with this stuff, we're operating in kind of an ethical gray area. He is my doctor, he is a licensed psychologist, and while technically we don't have therapy sessions, I don't want to risk ever bringing his ethics into question because he is an amazing doctor." I explain and he nods once. "I'll get around to it, but with the semester getting ready to close out, we're both pretty slammed with assignments and assessments. He doesn't need the extra distraction of worrying about this."

"I don't think he would see it as a distraction, but that's your circus." Uhura says and I nod. It is my circus, they are my monkeys. "Do you mind if Spock talks to me about what he's learned?"

"As long as I'm not there and you don't give me looks of pity. I'm not responsible for my actions if you give me looks of pity." I say and she smiles.

"Alright. No looks of pity, but there may be hand holding and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." She says and I raise an eyebrow at her.

"You get thirty seconds a day to hold my hand. That's my final offer." I say and she laughs. "Am I free to run away now?"

"Do you have any more questions for her?" Uhura looks to Spock who makes eye contact with her.

"I have no further questions. Please, have an enjoyable evening." He says as he stands. They walk me to the door and I head out back into the night.

"Jim, would you hold on just a damn minute!?" Leonard shouts from down the street. I see a figure walking in my direction, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head down. I realize that it's Jim.

"Hey, Jim." I say and he briefly looks at me before he walks over and hugs me. "What's going on?"

"Please don't ask questions." He says in a tight voice. I nod as I rub his back in a comforting motion.

"Come on, let's get you home. You smell like a bar." I say as Leonard gets close enough to see that it's me. I keep a guiding arm around him as the three of us move towards our residence hall. Once we reach his door, I type in Leonard's code and head inside. "Why don't you take a shower and then we can talk a little bit?"

"Sure." He says, but his voice is flat. He collects some clothes before he goes into the bathroom and closes the door. I look at Leonard who shrugs.

"I have never seen him act like this. I don't know what to do." He says and I purse my lips. "You didn't have to leave, Darlin'. I know you were with Uhura."

"It's fine." I say as he sits beside me. Then what Spock said comes to the front of my mind. "Actually…I asked Commander Spock for help with dealing with my past logically. I was with Uhura, but we were with him as well. We were talking about it and he is sure he can help me."

"I'm glad you're tryin' somethin' that might work for ya, Darlin'." Leonard says and I lean my head against his shoulder. "You know you're not botherin' me by talkin' about it though, right?"

"I know I bother you the least." I say and he kisses the top of my head. Jim comes out of the bathroom then. He comes over and sits down across from us on the chair. He rests his chin on his hands which he's clasped together.

"I'm not a bad person." He says after several moments of silence. We wait for him to continue, but then his eyes meet mine. "Am I?"

"No." I say firmly. "You're one of the best people I know." His eyes stay on mine for a moment before he closes them. "Jimmy, tell us what's going on."

"It's dumb." He says and I wait patiently. "It's about that girl I was telling you about." That's been quite a while ago. "It's done."

"And I'm guessing that you weren't on board with that decision." I say and he nods. "I'm sorry, Jim."

"Me too." He says and I hear all of the pain in his voice. "The best part is that I don't even know what I did. I thought things were going great."

"Then it might not be a you thing. You said that she had trouble expressing her feelings sometimes? Well this might be one of those times. It really blows, but you can't sit around and be depressed about it. I mean sure, give yourself a day or so to wallow and eat ice cream, but don't let this define you." I say and he opens his eyes again and looks at me. "How about tomorrow we have a movie day?"

"Can we have it here?" He asks and I nod slowly. "Nice." He sits back in the chair and lets out a big breath. I wonder if this has anything to do with why Tro is spending the weekend at Big Sul's place with Barbara. "I didn't interrupt you guys earlier, did I?"

"No, I was with Uhura. But you did interrupt his doctor study date." I say and Leonard grabs my side. I jump as I elbow him in the ribs. "Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to." He says honestly and Leonard gets up and goes over to his kit. "Bones you know I hate those things."

"Give Ollie some practice, will ya?" He asks and I smile at Jim who sighs. He prepares the hypodermic needle.

"Come on, Jimmy. I'll be gentle with you." I say as I stand up and hold out my hand to him. He rolls his eyes but he takes it and I lead him to his room. He sits down on the bed and he takes a shaky breath. I step forward and hug him. He buries his face in my stomach and his hands clench my shirt. It's unsettling to see this man cry, but I stay strong. Leonard comes into the room and I hold out a hand for the needle. "It's okay." I say gently. I smooth his hair, line up the needle and inject him. He slowly relaxes and I help him lay down. I hand it back over to Leonard before I essentially tuck him in. We quietly leave the room and turn off the lights. "I require your knowledge."

"Message received." He says as he takes my hand and leads me to the door. "It's those damn jeans."

"You love these jeans." I say as we go to my room. Once we're inside he kisses me. "I hate that Jim is hurting, but I'm kind of glad he dragged you away from your study date."

"Me too." He says and then he's kissing on my neck and I inhale sharply. "Now is this a real requirement or are you distractin' yourself?"

"It's been like two weeks. What do you think?" I ask and then I pull his lips to mine. He drags my jacket down my arms and tosses it somewhere unceremoniously before he slowly draws my tee shirt up over my head.

"Good God." He says, his eyebrows furrowed together. I look down in question and that's when I see the huge bruise on my stomach. "What happened?"

"Oh." I say and then I purse my lips. "I kind of forgot how little we've actually gotten to talk this week. So as it turns out, Pete is actually my half-brother."

"And what does that have to do with this?" He asks, gesturing to my stomach. How to explain this?

"Well, he approached me and there were words exchanged and then there was a spar." I go for word vomit because that's the kind of mood I'm in. "Is the mood ruined?"

"I guess not, that was just shocking to see." He says and I smile apologetically. "You're not gonna bother me."

"Mhm, but what if I do?" I ask as I walk over and take his jacket off. I toss it onto the couch. I maintain eye contact with him as I begin to unbutton his shirt.

"Well if you keep doin' things like this, I can guarantee that there is no possible way for you to bother me." He says and I hum again as I reach the bottom of his shirt and I push it off of his shoulders. I stand up on my toes and kiss him.

"Too many layers." I say and he grins before he pulls off his undershirt. I run my hands along the planes of his chest. He brings my hands to his lips and he kisses them. He sighs a pretty happy sigh, but it still makes me a little nervous. "If you're too emotionally or physically tired for sex, I would be content with cuddling mostly naked."

"The day I'm too tired to have sex with you is the day I die." He says and then he picks me up. I laugh as I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

"I mean, it's normal for a ma-" I giggle as he starts kissing all over my neck and chest. "I am younger than you, so it makes sen-" I'm laughing too hard to finish the sass. He carries me off to my room.

* * *

"You're in a good mood today." Juarez says as we walk out of the lab we were just using to complete an assignment. "Oh, somebody did the nasty this weekend."

"Cadet Gray." Commander Spock says and I give Juarez a dirty look before I put on a neutral expression and face the Vulcan. "Captain Pike has requested our presence in his office."

"Okay. I'll see you later, Juarez." I say and then I walk away with him. I know I shouldn't be embarrassed, but I am. I'm thankful as our walk is completely silent. We arrive at Pike's office and Spock opens the door and gestures me inside. "Thank you." I enter.

"Gray, drop and give me one hundred and fifty." Ashford Morgan says and I immediately set my bag down and start doing the pushups. "What's this shit I hear about you letting people treat you as a doormat? Are you a doormat, Gray?"

"No, sir." I say as I keep doing the pushups. My arms are tired from my workout this morning, but that's an excuse.

"This isn't about your past. This is about you letting people take advantage of the fact that you are too easy to talk to. Do you understand me?" He lays into me as he places his foot on my back for added resistance.

"Sir." Spock says and I glance to see him looking to Captain Pike. I can't see him. "I do not understand how this is meant to help the cadet."

"It's okay, Commander." I say and then I complete the pushups. Ash moves his foot and I stand up.

"I guess this is how he got her sober in a week." Captain Pike says and then he stands up. "Didn't mean to startle you, Gray, but Spock here told me you were struggling, so I called Ash to come talk to you since you respond well to his…style."

"Well that and they called me in anyway." Ash rolls his eyes. I guess I should really refer to him as Captain Morgan, but that has never felt appropriate. Especially since I was a recovering alcoholic when I first met him. The universe has a funny sense of humor. "Apparently Groff is on paternity leave now and I was the best candidate to replace him. Though I specifically asked them to leave me the hell alone for a while."

"Honestly, those guys needed someone tougher than Groff." I say and Spock raises an eyebrow at me. "I only mean that some of the cadets in my classes lack discipline and respect. Captain Morgan excels at teaching these qualities."

"Don't call me that." He says, making a face. I salute him and Pike looks incredibly amused. "We'll talk more about your doormat tendencies later. For now, we've got a class to get to."

"Sir." I say as I grab my bag and then I follow him out the door. "What do you mean it isn't about the past?" I lengthen my strides to keep up with him.

"You dealt with that stuff fine. While it may have been dragged up by his attack in August, that's not the issue now. You're overwhelmed with your life right now, not your life then." He says, giving me a pass on not letting it go until later. "Now go get dressed for class. I need you to show me what these assholes can do. Oh, and you better get used to yelling during your drills again."

"Joy." I say but then I head off to get changed. I style my hair so that it is completely out of my face before I head back to the classroom. Everyone looks apprehensive.

"Gray, do you know who this guy is?" Simmons asks as he walks up to me. I offer a smile.

"Yeah, Captain Ashford Morgan. He trained me before I came to the academy." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "You're about to see a new side of me and it's kind of scary."

"Thanks for the warning." He says and I smile. The moment everyone is there, Ash looks down at his watch.

"Cadet Gray, front and center." He says and I move and stand at attention in front of him. "You are going to keep count while the rest of them do one hundred and fifty push-ups. Now I know what you're thinking, I am showing favoritism, but this is not the case." He's like a less shouty drill sergeant. "Cadet Gray already gave me one hundred and fifty pushups less than twenty minutes ago. Now, on your count, Gray. Loud enough so that they can hear you in the back." I sigh.

"One!" I call out like he taught me to on the first day he started training me. This was to get me over that fear of making noise back then. Once they get through all of the pushups, Ash looks at his watch again.

"Alright. On Wednesday, Cadet Diaz will count off the pushups in much the same way. Again, this is not to show favoritism towards the female cadets. This is because the rest of you are a bunch of loud assholes and somebody needs to teach them to make themselves heard. What are you going to do?"

"Listen to Cadet Diaz?" Daniels asks and Ash points at him. "Sir, we listen to our fellow cadets already. I don't think that's a problem."

"That'll be another one hundred and fifty pushups, Daniels." He says and Daniels drops and begins doing the pushups. "The rest of you, partner up. I need to see what you can do, so that I can whip your sorry asses into shape in this last month and a half of the semester." Everyone looks around. "I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear?"

"Simmons." I say and he comes over to me. "Do not hold back, that'll make it worse." I think mostly they're all shocked because Groff was so laid back. He is a good instructor, but his style is very different. His class is purely physical, while Ash definitely plays on the psychological bits.

"Cadet Gray, can you tell me what is more frightening to an enemy than when you scream like a lunatic while you attack them?" Ash asks me and I sigh again. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"That was a deep sigh of exasperation, sir. I believe you are being unnecessarily over the top." I say, since there's no way of getting out of being one hundred percent honest with him.

"I would be more than happy to let you and Simmons spar first, Cadet Gray." He says and I can't help the smile. "You will notice that Cadet Gray and I are familiar with one another. I have previously instructed her, so she is familiar with my teaching style." Simmons and I put on our mitts before we meet in the sparring circle. "Cadet Gray, what do I require of my students?"

"You require one hundred and fifty percent effort." I say, remembering his fondness for the number.

"Yes I do. Begin." He says and I immediately attack Simmons, not holding back whatsoever. He staggers backwards in my initial attack, but then he's meeting me blow for blow. I focus more on the Muay Thai because I don't want to go with that much effort in the krav maga that Ash taught me. He really drilled home the idea of doing whatever it takes. He wouldn't be opposed to drawing blood in this classroom setting. But then Simmons doesn't leave me a choice. He grapples me to try and throw me to the ground. I break the hold, headbutt him and knee him in the stomach before he can react. I subdue him and he can't break out. "Good, except I couldn't hear you." He gestures for me to stand up. He stands right beside me then and he points to his ear. I sigh, but then I give a fearsome war cry. The one that would echo through the trees at his secluded home in Iowa.

I walk into the clinic and Leonard raises his eyebrow at me. I open my mouth to speak, but only a squeak comes out. I laugh a little and then clear my throat.

"So class was a little rough today, I came to see if you could give me something to help me sit through my last class." My voice is barely a whisper even though I'm not trying to whisper.

"Come on." He says and I follow him to the usual examination room. "What's goin' on, Darlin'?"

"The guy who trained me is replacing Groff because paternity leave." I say and he raises an eyebrow again. "Commander Spock told Pike what was going on and so Ash is going to be especially picking on me."

"Sounds like it. What'd he have ya doin'? Screamin' at the top of your lungs?" He asks and I nod. He lifts me up onto the bed and I make a face at him. "I was kidding."

"I'm not." I say and he shakes his head as he starts scanning me. "It was his way of making me get over being afraid of making noise. It worked for a little while."

"Well it looks like you've got laryngitis. I'm sure it didn't happen just today, but that didn't help." He says and then he goes over to a cabinet and loads a hypodermic needle. "This will help, but try to take it easy."

"Until Wednesday at least." I say and he gives me a look. "What do you want me to do? He helped me before."

"Did it really help if it didn't stick?" He asks and I look at my hands. "Darlin', I'm just worried that you're gonna go back to bein' crazy with your training again."

"That probably won't happen since I don't like running by myself anymore." I say and he comes back over. He doesn't warn me before he injects me and I make a face. He then lifts my chin and kisses me. "Hey, we're in the clinic, Dr. McCoy."

"I know where we're at." He says and then he brushes his thumb across my cheek. "I don't like when you look away like that. So I'm remindin' you that I'm here with ya no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it." I say softly. He smiles before he goes over to the cabinet and grabs a couple of pills and a small cup of water. I swallow them with the drink of water.

"A little stronger than your typical naproxen, but not strong enough to bring out Honest Ollie. I'll see ya after class." He says and I slide off the bed.

"I love you." I say as I hug him. His arms close around me and I briefly revel in the warm, safe feeling.

"I love you too." He says and I give him one last squeeze before I let him go and wink at him. We leave the examination room and I wave to Dr. Lee before I head out. I make my way to the linguistics department and make my way to the seat by Juarez and Uhura.

"Hey, you look especially rough today." She says as she looks up at me from her padd. I offer a small smile.

"Commander Spock told Pike who called in the guy who trained me." I say and her eyebrows shoot up. "He's also teaching my AC 305 class now and he likes making me yell. Apparently I was coming down with laryngitis and class blew out my voice."

"Well stop talking, that sounds painful." Juarez says and then he frowns. "But what did Commander Spock tell Pike?"

"Nothing, Mateo." I say, hoping that my use of his first name will make him drop it. "Now let me rest my voice, jeez." He rolls his eyes.

* * *

Ashford Morgan is an incredibly odd man. As much as he focuses on building the physical body up, he probably focuses more on the importance of a strong mind. These were the bases of my training before I came here. Each morning began with yoga beside the river behind his home, then we would have breakfast, then we would run five miles, then we would talk, and then we would work on my fighting. To this day, he remains the only person I have ever actually told literally everything to. And that is where we are now, me telling him everything about what has happened since coming here.

"You have every right to be scared." He says finally and I take a deep breath. "And you're working on that principle of doing it anyway."

"Well he's in prison, so it's not like he can hurt anyone right now." I say as I look down at my hands.

"Then Hall, have you faced him yet?" He asks and I shake my head. "I'm going to have you do that then."

"I figured you would." I say and then I look at him. "Ash, I need to learn how to not get overwhelmed like this, because the hits are not going to stop coming. What am I going to do when I'm actually a mediator? I have to be able to-"

"Stop with that bull shit." He says as he waves it away. "The mediator stuff is going to be different. That's not personal. I know you can handle that stuff based off of your transcripts." He sits back and looks at me. "So why are you letting yourself be a doormat?"

"I'm not letting myself be a doormat." I say and he looks unimpressed. "You know? I'm getting kind of tired of people telling me what I am and what I'm not doing. First Pete tries to tell me I don't have what it takes? Now you're sitting there like you know everything?"

"There it is. Now hold onto that." He says and I sigh, irritated. "For mediation, you're going to need to be able to keep a cool head, but that doesn't mean stop getting pissed off when people do stuff that pisses you off. Quit following those bull shit rules you allowed yourself to be guided by. Don't think about it, just do it. Like, uh, Kirk. Pike was telling me about him. Leap without looking or whatever."

"So that's your advice for me? Just do it. Why didn't I think of that?" I ask and he chuckles. "So in your professional opinion, you think I'm doing okay?"

"I do. You're nowhere near the woman who came to me back then." He says and that makes me feel a little better. "You've just got to stop being afraid of hurting people's feelings. In fact, that's my challenge for you. I don't want you to apologize over the next week. Record when you do and we'll talk about it."

"Okay." I say with a sigh. At first I was a little upset that Spock went to Captain Pike with this…but now I'm starting to see that it was probably the best call. "Now I have a meeting with Commander Spock." I stand up and step back into my boots. "See you tomorrow."

"Oh, you're going to love it." He says and I sigh. He laughs. I leave his office and then go to Spock's office. The door is open, he gestures me inside and I close the door.

"Please have a seat." He gestures to the chair in front of his desk, so I sit down. "It has come to my attention that you may have perceived my going to Captain Pike with your problem as a betrayal of your confidence. I simply wished to extend an apology because this was not my intention. I merely presumed that since I am aware of your trust in the captain, it was acceptable."

"I was upset at first, but I no longer feel that way. Thank you for your apology, but it's not necessary." I say and I see the most brief spark of curiosity. "Captain Morgan, while incredibly brutal in his physical training, has been able to make me see that what I thought was the problem, isn't actually what the problem is. I was on the right track with logic, but I'm not really a completely illogical person. As simplistic as it sounds, his advice for me was to 'just do it'."

"I seem to recall that is a phrase that stuck out to you before." He says thoughtfully. "How will that help you now?"

"That's a great question. If you're interested, I can let you know when I figure it out." I say and then I shake my head to myself. "Thank you, Commander. I look forward to serving with you in a couple of years."

"You have not been assigned as of right now." He says and then it dawns on him. "You have the same confidence as Cadet Uhura."

"She and I decided last year we'd be on the Enterprise." I say as I stand. "We just have to put in the work to get assigned there."

"Very well. You are dismissed." He says as he gestures to the door. I leave his office and head towards the gym. Tuesdays and Thursdays are comparatively shorter days for me. They start a lot earlier, but I almost prefer it. I spot Jim looking pretty dark as he sits on a bench. I walk up and haul him up by his upper arm and drag him with me into the gym.

"Ollie, what the hell?" He asks and I smile as I look up at him. "Come on, seriously?" I nod towards the locker room.

"You're going to jog with me. Go get changed. Or I guess I could take you in there and change you myself. Take your pick." I say and he narrows his eyes at me for a moment.

"Alright." He says and then he goes in. I shake my head but go into the women's locker room and change into my own work out apparel. It is a warm spring day. I elect to wear athletic leggings with a sports bra and a jacket over it. I need to stop following the rules. I need to be more mindful of my reactions to things. What is Ollie and what is being too apologetic? I go out to where I typically meet up with people to jog and Jim is there, doing some stretching. "You seem different today."

"Well…" I say and then I hum. "You know what? I haven't been being totally honest lately. I've been really struggling and so I'm taking the steps to get back to where I was. I used to be tough as hell." I finish the abbreviated version of my stretches. "You ready?"

"Yeah." He agrees with a nod and we head out and take off on one of my usual routes. "So what are those steps?"

"I don't know if Leonard told you, but my trainer from before we got here is teaching AC 305 because Groff is on paternity leave. Things happened and he was made aware that I was struggling, so he's challenging me to get back to where I was. My first challenge is to not apologize for stuff. Get back to not following the rules I used to follow."

"Wait a minute? What rules?" He looks down at me. "Tell me so I can help hold you accountable."

"It's a whole thing, Jim. You don't need to know about that stuff, but you can help me. He mentioned you, said that I need to not think so much and 'just do it'. So, help me leap without looking." I say and he raises an eyebrow at me.

"I don't know if that's something I can teach you to do, but I'll try." He says and I smile. "You look a lot less stressed."

"Shut up." I say and then he gets that look like a little kid again. I smack his arm and he does the little kid giggle.

"You two are consenting adults. It's none of my business what you-ah!" He nearly falls as I leap onto his back and put my hands over his mouth. He trips and falls and we both lay on the ground for a minute laughing.

"Do I even wanna know?" Leonard asks as he looks down at us. I see Grace and Fairchild looking at us as well.

"Probably not." I say as I accept his hand and let him help me up. "But that's how you take Jim down. You can try it next time he won't leave the bar."

"I think that's pretty specific to you." Jim says as he gets up. "And don't worry about her, Bones, I broke her fall."

"You've gotten squishy, Kirk." I say and he shoves my arm. I laugh. "Anyway, we've got to run." I stand up on my toes and kiss Leonard. "See you for dinner."

"I'll see ya then." He sounds a little confused. I just smile and then I pull Jim back into a jog with me.

"Am I really acting that different?" I ask after a moment. I guess my heart does feel a little lighter.

"You've been pretty intense lately. It's felt more like you were trying to act how you normally do, but that's not the case today." He says and I hum. "What all did that guy say to you?"

"That I have every right to be scared, but I should continue to just do the things anyway. Like loving Leonard, letting people get closer to me." I say and then I sigh. "That I need to communicate what I'm feeling. Not exactly in those words. He said that if something pisses me off, I need to make it known that I'm pissed off. But he meant the other stuff too."

"Daniels mentioned that you told him he could go fuck himself if he thought he should be Diaz's first priority." He says and I shake my head.

"I'd been talking to Pete, he grates on my nerves. Oh. He's my half-brother by the way." I say and he stops jogging.

"One-Eyed Pete is your half-brother? Ollie, you need to stop being so cool." He says and I laugh and drag him back into the jog. "Stuff really has been coming at you lately, hasn't it? Sorry about Friday."

"Don't apologize for needing your friends." I say as I look up at him. "I'll let you start being there for me more if you promise not to bottle up and turn into a douchebag again."

"I don't know, getting back out there might cheer me up." He says and I give him a look. "Maybe I should just be the guy everyone thinks I am."

"Maybe I should just be the weak girl that everyone who doesn't know me thinks I am." I say with a shrug. "Move back to Illinois, grow my hair long again, and let people call me Niki."

"Shut up." He says with a roll of his eyes. "That's incredibly different." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"It isn't. Don't let people tell you what you're going to be. Tell them to fuck off." I say and he shakes his head. "If you're going to be the guy anyone thinks you're going to be, be the guy I think you are. That should be good enough until you get your thumb out of your ass and start doing it for yourself."

"Okay, I need to meet this guy. You're like a different person." He says and I shake my head. "Seriously. He sounds amazing."

"No baby, that's all Ollie." I say and he laughs. "He said I needed to stop being afraid of hurting other people's feelings. I think Tro is going to really like that when she gets back."

"She will." He says and I sense that he's closed back up again. I look back up at him. "How obvious is it?"

"I figured that something was going to happen from the moment I saw you guys interact." I say and he sighs. "What happened?"

"That organization who took her when we were kids has resurfaced. That's part of it, but she also thinks she's holding me back." He says and I shake my head.

"So is that where she is now?" I ask and he nods. "I wish she felt like she could tell me these things."

"She doesn't want to put any more stress on you." He says and I sigh. "I know. She won't avoid you when she gets back, but she's definitely going to avoid me."

"If it's meant to work out it will, Jimmy." I say and he offers a terse smile. "I know. Just do your best."

"Oh Ollie, you are such a good friend to me. I may even not tease you about how much of a better mood you're in." He says and I smack his arm again. "Why do you think I'm always in such a good mood?"

"We are not talking about this." I say firmly as I speed up. He matches my pace in spite of his laughter.

"He was whistling the other morning, Ollie." He says and that has me laughing. "I'm going to mandate alone time for the two of you, because he was getting unreasonable."


	14. A Conversation

_Welcome to chapter 14! My momentum has certainly slowed, but the good news is that at this point I already have a lot of chapter 15 written! I'll try to get that posted in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I appreciate all of the comments I have received on this story! I have enjoyed writing it and so it means a lot that you guys are enjoying the gang as well! Anyway, I will stop rambling on here and let you get back into it! Enjoy!_

* * *

"Alright, last up we have Gray and Hall." Ash says and Simmons looks at me. I smile reassuringly. I move into the ring and I can tell that Hall is nervous. "You know what I expect from both of you. I don't care what happened then, what's important is now."

"Yes, sir." I say as I fall into my favored stance, my voice is still a little hoarse. Hall readies himself and we look to Ash who nods. I attack and it quickly becomes the sort of thing where he is just blocking. "Hall, don't do that to yourself."

"I'm sorry your brother is psychotic." He says and then I decide to do something that I really never wanted to have to do in a classroom setting. I switch to tactics that will piss him off and it starts working quickly. He throws his first actual punch and I drop and sweep his feet out from under him. I go in to subdue him and he kicks me across the ring, right in the stomach. I cough but keep moving as he comes back at me. He grabs me by the shoulders and that pisses me off. I jump and kick him square in the chest with both feet. He falls backwards and I bring the motion around and land in a crouch before I take him to the ground. We grapple for a moment before he shoves me away again. I'm not going to beat him like I did before. I'm backing away from him as I plan my next move.

"This isn't a dance recital, Gray." Ash says and I spring forward and plant my hand as I swing my body around like a pendulum and land a solid kick to his ribs. He manages to take me to the ground this time, I'm pinned down pretty good, but I don't give up fighting. He's pinning my arms. I am able to bring my legs in and I push off of his thighs into a backwards roll. He stays on me, but at least we're on our feet again. I weave out of the way of a solid punch and I throw a mean uppercut. His head whips back and he looks dazed, but he grabs me by the shoulders and he headbutts me. He looks satisfied with himself until he realizes that I'm pretty much unphased. I need to end this. He throws a kick, but I catch his foot and twist his leg around. He falls on his face. I leap onto his back and get him into a blood choke. "Three seconds, Hall." He taps and I release him. I keep my eyes on him as he lays there for a moment.

"Hall." I say as I walk over, holding my hand out to him. He looks up at me and he seems to contemplate it, but then he takes my hand and allows me to help him up. "Good fight." I hold out my fist.

"Good fight." He says as he fist bumps me. "How do you get on the carotid literally every single time no matter where you're coming from?"

"Well, when your predominant style of fighting is trying to knock someone out so you don't have to fight. Also, I'm a nurse and I date a doctor." I say with a shrug and then I go back over to my group. Ash makes eye contact with me and he nods towards the door to the classroom. I see Leonard and Jim.

"We're going to take a five-minute break, then we'll run some drills." Ash says and I playfully jab at Simmons as I normally do before I go over a step out into the hall.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" I ask as I place a hand on my hip. Leonard doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's looking me over for injuries. "Aren't you supposed to be in the clinic?"

"Fairchild owed me a favor. I had a feeling." He says and Jim just shrugs and hands me a bottle of water.

"Personally, I was against spying on you while you're in class." He says and I smile as I drink deeply. "But damn that uppercut was nasty."

"I put a little stank on it." I shrug. "Last time I dazed him with a knee to the chin, so I don't feel like the uppercut was as impressive."

"Impressive." Leonard scoffs and then his eyebrows furrow. "Darlin', hold out your hand." I give him a look but hold out my hand. It's not shaking. I close my eyes and smile.

"Oh, I've gotta go. See you later, Ol." Jim says as he kisses my cheek and darts off. I watch after him for a moment before I turn to Leonard who shrugs.

"Anyway, I told you Ash wasn't a total lunatic." I say as I hug him. "He genuinely is a good teacher."

"I don't like his methods." He says and I look up at him and stand up on my toes. He leans in the rest of the way and I kiss him.

"Since you're not working in the clinic today, do you want to walk me back to my room after class?" I ask and he raises his eyebrows.

"Darlin', it would be my pleasure." He says and I smile before I press one more kiss to his lips and head back in.

"The two of you warm my cold, dead heart." Simmons says and I roll my eyes at him as I roll my shoulders. "Especially when you jump into his arms and do the foot pop thing."

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you." I say as I smack his arm. "And I do not jump into his arms."

"You have though." Daniels says and I shoot him a look. "Juarez pointed out the foot pop. The way he picks you up like it's nothing?"

"Well she does weigh basically nothing." Simmons says and I put my hands on my hips. "It's gotten better."

"It has. I'm fighting for one-twenty-five now." I say, but then I shake my head. "I thought the two of you were my only friends who weren't obsessed with my relationship."

"It's not their fault you guys are easily the cutest couple on campus." Diaz says from where she's laying on the floor. "And I have seen the foot pop." She says and I shoot her a look. "I'm glad at least one of us is seeing action." I don't have to see myself to know that my face is bright red. She gets a good laugh out of that. "Is he that good in bed?"

"I am done talking to all three of you." I say as I turn away from them and take a drink of water before I toss the bottle on my pile of stuff.

"He must be pretty good if you won't say anything." She says and I shoot her a pleading look. "Gray, we are all adults here."

"Except Daniels looks like a giggling twelve-year-old-boy." I say as I jerk my thumb in his direction. "I don't need to talk about my sex life in class. And unless you want to ask him yourself, that doesn't mean ambush me after class either."

"That's an interesting thought." She says and I sigh heavily. "Outside of classes, the only entertainment I get is Giggle Pets. I need adult conversations to survive."

"Then I will personally pay for a news subscription for you." I say and she laughs again. "Honestly, Diaz. You're killin' me today. But also, I should say, I love children and if you ever need a mommy's night out, I would be more than happy to look after your angel. All children love me."

"I'll keep that in mind." She says and I smile. We all converge on Ash as the five minutes is up. The rest of the class flies by and once we are dismissed, I gather up my things and run for the door.

"Gray!" Diaz calls as menacingly as she can through her laughter. Leonard pushes off from where he's leaned against the wall and I grab him by the hand and try to tug him into a run. "Ha! Confusion wins, so we were having a pretty interesting conversation…"

"Iris, please." I say, pleading with her, hoping that my use of her first name will work as an emotional appeal. "I offered to watch your little angel for you. Go out and chase your own dreams." She doubles over laughing at that.

"Calm down, Gray. I'm kidding. It's very nice to see you, Dr. McCoy. You might want to check her heart." She says and he raises an eyebrow at me. "She'll say we were being crass."

"I'm sorry, directly asking me if my boyfriend is good in bed is a little crass." I say and Leonard laughs.

"Well, am I?" He asks and I look up at him with raised eyebrows. I put my face in my hands, even though there is no hiding how red my face is. I'm okay with talking to him about sex. I honestly don't know why I get so freaked out.

"Nope. You're terrible. Goodbye to everyone. I'm going to die in a hole." I finally say and I turn on my heel and walk away. Diaz is laughing harder. I'm not angry, just embarrassed.

"Darlin', wait up!" Leonard calls, he's trying not to sound so amused. "I'm not gonna let ya die in some hole." He catches up to me. He puts his arm around my shoulders and he kisses the top of my head. "People wouldn't tease ya as much if your reaction wasn't so cute."

"You're banned from coming to my combat classes." I say and he at least tries to disguise his laugh as a cough. So I guess I can forgive him.

"So you were kidding, right?" He asks and I look up at him and shrug. "Darlin', I thought that…" He reads my expression before he narrows his eyes at me. "Alright, I deserved that."

"Mhm." I say as I pull on my jacket. I see through the clear front doors that it's raining. "Good thing I was planning on taking a shower anyway." I say as I at least zip up the jacket, even though it won't do anything to keep me dry.

"I knew I should've checked to see if you had your rain jacket with you." He says with a shake of his head as he goes to take off his own jacket.

"No, I'm not going to let you be nice. Not since you made fun of me." I stick my tongue out at him before I take off running into the rain.

"Damn it, Ollie!" He calls after me, still amused. He catches up with me at least. "You're gonna catch a cold."

"I will be fine, we're already more than half-way there." I say and then I push my hair out of my face. "This really came out of nowhere."

"Well it's spring, it'll do that." He says and we lapse into silence. We reach the dorm and once we're on the lift, I let out a little laugh. I'm dripping. We arrive at my room and I press in my code before we go inside.

"Computer, any messages?" I ask as I start peeling off my soaking wet clothes. I start the shower.

"You have one audio clip from Troian Sullivan." The computer responds and then it begins playback. "Hey Ollie, I'm going to be gone again this weekend. I promise we will have a girl's night soon. Things are just a little crazy right now. I love you and don't forget to eat on Saturday. I know you did last weekend and I know McCowboy is probably there with you right now giving you that look. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Bye!"

"You're really going to give me that look when I'm most of the way undressed in front of you?" I ask my boyfriend as I stand before him in my sports bra and underwear. "Because I'm a grown woman, I can take a shower by myse-" I don't get to finish the thought.

* * *

"Admiral Sullivan, you asked to see me?" I ask as I stand at the doorway to his office. He's almost never here, so it's kind of odd to see him. I'm not entirely upset to see him, but after AC 305, I am ready to go back to my room and take a long, hot shower. As things are, though, I'm here in uniform.

"Yes, please come in. Close the door behind you." He says and I do as I'm asked and take the seat he gestures to me. "It's been a long time since we've had an actual chat."

"So is this an Admiral Sullivan and Cadet Gray chat or a Trevor and Olivia chat?" I ask and he chuckles.

"I thought I told you to call me Dad." He says and I smile. "Troian told me that she's told you the most vague version of what happened to her, so I thought I would fill in some of the gaps and her absence might make more sense. She's alright with it."

"Okay…" I say slowly. I mean, her absence has been felt by me quite a bit in the past few weeks. She's gone every weekend and most nights.

"Troian was almost ten years old, she was taken by an organization who takes children and trains them from a young age to be assassins. They then sell them off to the highest bidder once they reach adulthood. She was severely abused to a point where she effectively split her own mind." He stops and takes a moment. "One is the Troian you know and the other is referred to as The Apex, because, as I'm sure you can imagine, she is very good at what she does. When she was twenty, we were able to mount a successful rescue and we thought that we had taken the organization down, but we've recently discovered that they're making a resurgence."

"So she's been trying to take them down." I say and he nods. A chill runs through my body.

"She seems to think that the only way she can do it is by tapping back into The Apex. She has a tremendous amount of control over that." He says and I nod. "I don't want you to be afraid of her."

"I'm not." I say and he smiles. "She's like family to me and I'll do whatever I need to do in order to help her. Even if that means just helping her feel normal when she is here."

"I'll admit I was surprised when she told me about you. As we Sullivans do, I did extensive research." He says and I sigh. "Don't give me that, you shouldn't feel shame for where you came from. Just look at me." I raise an eyebrow. "Like you, I escaped from an incredibly abusive life. We lived that way until I came of age and then I convinced my mother that we could run away. So we did and I decided that we would be Sullivans from then on. Do you know where the name comes from?"

"It's derived from a Gaelic name, isn't it?" I ask and he nods. "You'll have to help me with the rest, I've been practicing my Andorian quite a bit lately."

"It comes from the name Súilleabháin and it means hawk-eyed." He says and I smile. "Hey, it's not worse than Erik Erikson giving himself the last name meaning that he is his own father." I laugh.

"True, but it's kind of cheesy." I say and he chuckles. "Why are you telling me about this?"

"Because, it'll make more sense why I'm so insistent that you are essentially a Sullivan. I vowed to myself that one day I would help women like my mother. I'm not saying you're a charity case, but I want you to know that we will do whatever it takes to protect you." He stares at me with his intent eyes. "The next order of business is a foundation I want to start up. It's going to keep me here on Earth for a while and someday I hope you'll come and run it with me. You have a voice that deserves to be heard." I open my mouth to say I'd rather focus on my career. "Of course, only after you've had your fill of exploration. The spot will always be yours though and when I eventually die, I am leaving it to you."

"I don't know what to say…" I say and he just offers a sort of smile. "When I do decide I need to spend some time on Earth, it will be an honor to work with you."

"Atta girl." He says and then he stands. I stand as well and he comes around the desk and gives me a hug. "I don't worry about you any more than a father normally worries for one of his girls."

"Have you seen my flying knee?" I ask and he laughs and pats me on the back before he steps away.

"Morgan says that you've sailed past his expectations for your fighting." He says and I raise my eyebrows. "He's still going to be just as tough on you, because you can always do better."

"Well, if there's one thing anyone should know about me, it's that fine isn't good enough." I say and he pats me on the shoulder again. "Also, something Troian mentioned to me the last time I saw her," He raises an eyebrow in question. "Just ask Barbara to marry you already. She is head over heels, you're head over heels."

"It's always a pleasure, Olivia." He says as he guides me by the shoulder to the door. I laugh. "I can't believe she put you up to that."

"To be fair, she was just ranting about how you can be such a big baby sometimes." I grin at him and he narrows his eyes at me. "Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Kid." He says and I leave the office. Instead of going to my room, I find myself at the clinic. Leonard looks up as I enter and he raises an eyebrow.

"Two orders of business, first order of business, I need something for these aching bones." I say and he shakes his head as he gets up and grabs a bottle from the cabinet behind them. "Second order of business, Trevor Sullivan just offered me a position heading a foundation for abused families. Well, he said specifically women, but I'm going to recommend expanding it. But, after I 'get my fill of exploration'."

"That's great, Darlin'." He says as he comes over and gives me a couple of pills and a small cup of water. I take them. "I'm assuming that's great? Since you already have ideas for it."

"It is." I say with a smile. "And keeping Harper and Andrew together if she decided she wanted to join Starfleet totally isn't something that came to mind almost instantly." He rolls his eyes. "They work well together." I shrug.

"Is your gut instinct when people are in love, or what?" He asks and I laugh. "What's your gut say about us?"

"I still get butterflies sometimes." I say and he grins. "But only sometimes. You'd better step up your game, McCoy."

"Ooh, McCoy. Someone's in trouble." Dr. Lee says as he returns to his desk. "Olivia, it's always a pleasure."

"Same to you, Dr. Lee." I say and he rolls his eyes. "I call people what they're introduced to me as. I'm supposed to just start calling you Grayson?"

"Yes, as we are friends, you could at least drop the doctor part." He says and I pretend to think about it.

"What if I called you Dr. Grayson?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow at me that causes me to laugh. "I'll think about it. I called my younger cousin Boog until I reconnected with him the semester before last."

"Before she did finally decide to call him Jasper, she'd said that he was Boog until she drew her dying breath." Leonard says and then he shakes his head. "You're really weird."

"Yeah? It's not my fault you fell in love with me." I say and he rolls his eyes. "But I have a date with a skin-melting shower, so I will be going now."

"That's not good for your skin, you know." Leonard says and I shrug. "It dries you out, I thought you cared about that." I open my mouth to say something, but then I just smile.

"Bye, Leonard." I wink at him and then I wave to Dr. Lee before I leave the clinic. I make my way back to my residence hall go to my room, upon entering, I see Pete sitting on the couch. "How did you even get in here?"

"Knowing you like I do? Your code wasn't hard to guess. Then I'm not the sort of guy people ask questions." He shrugs and I shake my head. "I've gotta leave for a while, but I'm gonna come back here."

"I hope it's not anything too ridiculously illegal." I say and he shrugs. "And you'll be careful?"

"I made it back to follow you to San Francisco, didn't I?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "I'll lift the ban on telling Josh about me now." I roll my eyes again. "They're gonna get stuck that way, kid."

"Good thing I date a doctor." I say and it's his turn to roll his eyes. "But seriously, I'm collecting a family and I'd like it if they were all safe."

"I know, but sometimes you don't get to make that call. You gotta live with it." He shrugs and walks towards me. "Just because I'm gone, doesn't mean I don't got eyes on you. I also have a friend lookin' after the McCoys, especially the little one. I know Fuckhead is in prison, but I don't trust him." That brings tears to my eyes. "Ah, don't cry. Be a tough guy."

"I'll show you a tough guy." I say as I go over and hug him. He stands there awkwardly for a second before he puts his arms around me. "Also, don't break into my room again. Troian would be incredibly upset."

"Look…there's somethin' you should know about her." He says as he gently pulls me back so that he can look me in the eye.

"She was an assassin? Yeah, I know." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "It wasn't by choice and she controls her darkness. Anything else?"

"I like this new Olivia who surprises me every once in a while." He says and I grin. He steps around me. "I'll let ya know when I'm back in town."

"Take care of yourself." I say and he offers a sort of salute before he leaves. I sigh and take my shower finally. When I deem it impossible to work the tension out of my shoulders, I get out and dress in shorts and a sweatshirt before I comb through my hair and apply product. I sit down on the couch. There really isn't a good way to tell Josh about Pete. I pick up my padd and draft a message, explaining to him the situation. I don't mean to hit send immediately, but muscle memory. My tricorder almost immediately chirps. "This is Gray."

"So…why is that a message and not a face to face thing?" Josh asks and I sigh as I sit back. "Ollie, tell me what's going on."

"I meant to reread that before I sent it to you. I just…I don't know what to say. You know how much of a piece of shit our father is. We have an older brother named Pete who has a questionable job." I say and he laughs. "I mean you said he seemed like an alright guy."

"That's true. And you said he's gone on a job now? Do you know when he'll be back?" He asks and I sigh again.

"Not at all, but he said he would be. So I trust that he will be. I think he was afraid of it being weird with you since we're huggers." I say and he laughs again.

"I can see that. Well…I guess that's kind of cool. Can we meet up for lunch tomorrow to talk more about it?" He asks and I smile to myself.

"Absolutely. I'll see you at noon? I don't have a whole lot of time, but I have at least any hour." I ask as I lay my head back.

"That works for me. I'll see you then, Kiddo." He says and I smile. "You don't mind that I call you that, do you?"

"Joshua, if I minded, you would know. I'll see you tomorrow." I close my tricorder and set it on the coffee table before I go back to my padd and begin working on my assignments.

* * *

"Darlin', we need to have a conversation." Leonard says and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach.

"That's only a little less terrifying than 'we need to talk'." I say and he offers a smile that I can't quite place. "Okay…"

"Let's go out for dinner." He says and I nod slowly as I get up and go into my room to change into something that makes me look a little less like a homeless person. I've been on a study binge and that is rarely pretty. The first thing I see in my closet is the dress that Troian got for me when she was in Italy last weekend. I put that on and tame my hair with a couple of well-placed braids and some bobby pins. It's gotten longer again, collarbone length. I add a small amount of makeup to my face before I put on some ankle boots that match well and my favorite leather jacket.

"Ready to go?" I ask as I walk out of my room. He raises his eyebrows as he looks up at me. "What? I've looked homeless for the last few days, it's the least I can do."

"You have not looked homeless." He rolls his eyes as he stands up. "And I shouldn't be so surprised that this is the least. I doubt I've even seen the most you can do." I offer a small smile before we head out. We walk to the Italian place nearby and we don't say anything until we're seated and have ordered.

"So…what do we need to have a conversation about?" I ask as I take a drink of my water. He looks at me and again, I can't quite place the expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine." He says, but I don't trust that tone. "Let's have dinner first. How are you feelin' about that certification exam? You sure you really wanna be a nurse? Doctors can be whiney."

"I'm sure." I say with a laugh. "And I feel alright about it. I've been studying and I just have to have faith in myself. I am a competent nurse."

"You're a competent everythin', Darlin'." He says and I smile. "I'm sure you're gonna have the highest score. You usually do."

"That doesn't mean anything." I roll my eyes. "I know the material, but I'm also just a really good test-taker." Our meals arrive and I smile to the server before she leaves. "Uhura has been helping Juarez and I with our studying instead of the linguistics stuff, so that sense of normalcy definitely helps."

"You're gonna be just fine." He reassures me and I smile. We lapse into silence as we eat. As we finish, our server returns to us.

"Did the two of you save room for dessert?" She asks as she gives me a wink. I open my mouth to decline.

"You know what? We never do. Let's get some tiramisu." Leonard says and I look at him. "Does that sound good?"

"Sure." I say and our server smiles as she clears our dishes. "So are you going to make me wait until after dessert to tell me what we need to have a conversation about?"

"No, now's as good a time as any." He says and he reaches into the interior pocket of jacket. "I don't think we should date anymore." The blood drains from my face. "I think we should get married."

"Seriously? That's how you're going to ask me to marry you?" I ask, trying to keep back the tears that threaten. "Try again."

"Olivia Gray, my best friend and my partner," He gets out of his chair and goes down on one knee. He's holding a small velvet box now. "I've been tryin' to find the right words to ask you this for about two months now, but I haven't been able to come up with anything spectacular. But you encourage me to do things in spite of whatever fears I may have. You keep inspirin' me to be a better man. Every single day I'm reminded why I love you and if you'll have me, I'd love to spend the rest of my life with ya. Will you marry me?" It's oddly quiet in the restaurant now.

"Yes." I say and people start clapping. He slides the ring onto my left-hand ring finger and as he stands, I stand up and kiss him. He wraps his arms around me. "But if you ever scare me like that again…"

"I'm sorry." He says as he squeezes me. "I thought it might be funny to throw in a call back to the early days of our relationship."

"You lose points on the sweet proposal for that one." I say and he laughs as he kisses me again and we sit down. The tiramisu comes out and written on our plates in chocolate is congratulations. "So wow…you really did it."

"What? I said I wanted to marry ya, this is the first step in that." He says and I shake my head. I look at the ring. "Do you like it?"

"No." I say as I look at him with a straight face. "I love it." He narrows his eyes at me. "You deserve that and everything else you're going to get for the rest of our lives."

"That's fair." He allows and I laugh. "I figured you'd say yes, so our friends are waitin' on us at Seb's."

"So this has been the plan all along? Wait until I least expect it?" I ask and he shrugs. I look at my hand again. "I don't like how good you all are at conspiring against me."

"You make it easy when you're on a studyin' binge, Darlin'." He says and I roll my eyes. "You didn't even notice that I was dressed up." We finish with our dessert and pay before we head out and start walking towards the jazz club. "Are you alright? I really didn't mean to scare ya like that."

"My body did the thing where all of my blood started rushing out of my limbs." I say and he puts his arm around me.

"I maybe paused a little too long." He says apologetically. "You're sure you really wanna marry me? We're alone now, you don't have to pretend."

"Leonard." I say as I stop and look up at him, my expression unreadable. "Yes, I want to marry you." I start walking again. "I don't want to make a big fuss, so why don't we talk to your mom about doing it in August? Mostly everyone from your family will be gathered anyway. I don't have a ton of people to invite, but everyone should be fine with coming to Georgia."

"Darlin', I don't think you understand just how happy Momma's gonna be about that." He says and I shrug. We arrive at Seb's and Leonard holds the door open for me. I put on a distraught face as soon as he can't see my face anymore and I walk in. Tro's face drops from happy to ready to kill him in a fraction of a second. Jim also looks confused. "What?"

"I'm just kidding." I grin as I hold up my left hand. Juarez takes my hand and whistles at the ring. Josh places his hands on his shoulders and looks at it as well. "So yeah, I'm engaged." I shrug.

"Of course you would shrug at that." Josh says with a roll of his eyes. "So tell me all about it. Was it romantic? Were there metaphors?"

"Let's not talk about that part." Leonard says as he takes my hand, but Jim stops him and spins me himself.

"No, I want to hear this part. This guy, for the past two months." Jim shakes his head. "He's been driving me nuts. What did he say?"

"Well, he started off by saying that we shouldn't date anymore. There was a pause." I say and Juarez gasps.

"No." Jim groans. "I told you that was probably the worse idea. I can't believe she agreed to marry you."

"You and me both." Leonard says and then Tro hugs me. "I'm gonna be payin' for it for the rest of my life."

"Oh yes you will." I say as I hug Tro, she laughs. "I'm so glad you're here to celebrate this."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have missed this for anything." She says as she squeezes. "Excuse us, boys. This is our song." She takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. "I tried to get ahold of Pete, but he's off-world. They said he would contact you soon."

"Of course he is." I say with a roll of my eyes. "Thank you for that…I know how much you don't like what he does."

"It's okay…I know he won't hurt you." She says and I smile as she spins me. "This really is our song now, I expect a special dance at the wedding."

"We can arrange that. We're probably going to do it in August, the big McCoy party." I say and she makes a 'not bad' face. "How much do you think Big Sul will cry when I ask him to walk me down the aisle?"

"Oh God." She says as she looks to the ceiling. "He may not stop crying. Like ever." I laugh. "And I accept my role as maid of honor."

"Good, you didn't have a choice." I say and she grins. "Oh I love that smile so much. You have the best dimples." I pinch her cheeks and she makes a face as she tries to lean back to get away from me. "So where are you at with your heart matters?"

"Oh, it's sweet that you still think I have a heart." She says and I roll my eyes. "It's complicated, Peaches."

"Well it needs to get uncomplicated, you both are miserable." I say and she smiles before she spins me away. Leonard takes me into his arms. "I don't know what it is with them throwing me away."

"Well it was good news for me." He says and I smile up at him. "You should've heard those three."

"Yelling at you over scaring me?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. I laugh. "I'm not emotionally traumatized. You're off the hook."

"I know only part of that is the truth." He says and I shrug innocently. "You do a good job of lookin' innocent."

"It's the eyes." I say and he hums as he leans in and kisses me. "I love you." I place my hand on his cheek and he rests his forehead against mine as we sway to the slow-paced song.

"I love you too." He says and I lay my head against his chest and just enjoy the feeling of being in his arms.

* * *

"What?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing together. For whatever reason, I'm having trouble processing the information that was just presented to me. Leonard puts his arm around me.

"Long story short, Marcus is dead." Trevor says as he reads over the document on his padd. "He was killed by two other prisoners during their recreational period."

"I can't believe it." I say and really I don't. "And they're sure that it was actually him?" Trevor looks at me in question. "Look, it may make me sound more than a little paranoid, but I don't think that he and his psychotic family are above faking his death to try and drag me back there. That town is like a damn cult."

"Well I can assure you, I'll have my own people look into it. In the meantime, just try to relax. I wanted you to know what was going on." He says and I nod. "Be vigilant, but I know you always are."

"Always." I agree and then I take a breath. "I just…It doesn't feel like it's over by a long shot."

"And that's normal. You've been fightin' it for so long." Leonard says and I look up at him. "However, if he isn't dead, then we'll face whatever happens next head on together. You're not in this alone."

"He's right." Trevor says and I look at him. "I'm sorry that I cut you off before you could say your thing. I just wanted to make sure we didn't get sidetracked and run out of time. I do have another appointment soon."

"No, it's fine." I say with a shake of my head. "I was just going to ask you if you would walk me down the aisle." He stares at me and blinks for a moment. "I don't know, it might be dumb. I've considered a few different people, but the only person who felt just right was you."

"It would be my honor." He says and I smile as I stand up and hold out my arms. He comes around the desk and squeezes me tight. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He clears his throat. "Don't you have wedding dress shopping to do?"

"Don't remind me." I say with a groan. "Your girlfriend has sent me some horrifying options."

"That's Babs for ya." He laughs. "She is very interested in the high fashion aspect of things, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Yeah." I say as I roll my eyes and step away. "Keep me updated on what you find concerning Marcus' death, please." He nods. "Alright, we'll leave you to your next appointment then." Leonard stands and we exit the office. "You should kidnap me so I can't go dress shopping."

"Well what're you gonna where to the wedding?" He asks and I shrug. "As much as I do enjoy the shorts equivalent of our favorite jeans, I think the event calls for a little somethin' more. And if I have to wear nice clothes, so do you."

"Relax, I'm not going to let you look like a big dork alone." I say and he narrows his eyes at me. "And are you saying you wouldn't marry me if I didn't look my best?"

"Well that's not what I was-" He starts and then he narrows his eyes at me again. "I know what you're doin'."

"You're just so fun to get riled up." I say with a smile. "And I get to do that for the rest of my life."

"I'm glad you're excited for that part at least." He says with a roll of his eyes. He's leading me somewhere now.

"So I thought we were going back to my room to go over some things about the wedding." I say and he shrugs.

"I thought it'd be more fun if we went somewhere else to do that." He says and I give him a skeptical look. "I said I wouldn't lie to ya about it, Sullivan wanted me to get ya to the shop. There's a surprise waiting for you there."

"Yeah, it's called a Barbara and it's evil." I say and he tries his best not to look amused. "I understand that some women are empowered by wearing bold clothing. I am not one of those women."

"I know this and you know this. I also know that you're not gonna let anyone push ya around into wearin' somethin' you won't be comfortable in." He says as he stops and places his hands on my shoulders. "And no matter what, you're gonna be beautiful and I'm gonna cry like a little baby."

"I know you will." I say as I smile sweetly at him. "I think that will be the moment where you will finally see the best that I can do."

"You can hype it up all ya want, I'm still not gonna be ready for it." He says and I smile. "Come on, Sullivan was bein' pushy." He takes my hand and we start walking again. We reach the edge of campus and there is a car waiting for me. The driver is standing beside the back passenger door.

"Ms. Gray? Ms. Sullivan requested that you change into these clothes." He says as he holds up a garment bag. "There is a partition for your convenience."

"Well, if I'm not back in…six hours, come looking for me." I say as I turn to Leonard who isn't hiding his amusement. I stand up on my toes and kiss him.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you later." He says and I shake my head as I go and take the garment bag from the driver.

"Thank you." I say, climbing in as he opens the door for me. Once I'm inside, he closes the door. The windows are tinted so that no one can see through and the partition is already up. I shake my head, but hang the garment bag from one of the hooks beside the door and unzip it. It's a dress…nothing horrible. I remove my uniform and put it on as well as the wedges from the shoe box sitting on the seat. I neatly fold my uniform before I fix my hair and sit back. We arrive at the dress shop and the driver opens the door for me. I climb out and see Tro waiting for me.

"Not bad." She says as she nods appreciatively. "I figured it would take him at least twenty minutes to get you to agree to get into the car."

"He sweet talked me." I say and she shakes her head. "So everyone is already here?" I ask and she nods. "Well, let's get this over with."

"Don't sound so much like I'm taking you in there to be waterboarded." She says as she throws an arm around my shoulders and leads the way inside. I'm surprised when I see both Lucille and Harper.

"Olivia." Lucille says as she walks over and takes my face in her hands. "Always so much more lovely every time I see you."

"You're just saying that because I agreed to marry Leonard." I say and she pulls me into a hug. "And what are you doing here? I thought this was your weekend on call?"

"I lied for the sake of the surprise." Harper says as she gives me a hug. "Talking three times a week isn't enough for me. Andy's a little jealous."

"They learn to get over it." Tro says and then she shakes her head. "So everyone else is here too. Babs, Elizabeth, and Abby. They're already looking at dresses."

"Lovely." I say as I make a face. "Well, let's join them." The four of us make our way further into the parlor and Babs lets out an excited noise as she sees me.

"Olivia! We're having so much fun. Here, this is my best friend Fiona and this is her shop." She says and I smile.

"Oh my goodness, dressing you for this wedding is going to be so much fun. I already have a million ideas." The woman says and I successfully keep myself from sighing heavily.

"I love that everyone has so many creative ideas, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want for myself." I say and Lucille takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. I realize that they're shaking. The last time I was in a wedding dress shop was not a good time. Between my mom, Marcus' mom, and Marcus… "So let's get started."

"Right, of course." Fiona says as she pulls out a padd. "What is it you're looking for, Darling?"

"I'll know her when I see her." I say and then we're looking through the wedding dresses. After I pick out a few, I start trying on the various picks. In spite of my nervousness, I have a wonderful time. We save the ones that I picked for last. It's as Fiona is adjusting the dress with clips so that it looks how it will when it's been tailored to fit me specifically that I realize that I am wearing the dress that I want. I feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I walk over to the podium and step up onto it.

"Oh baby girl." Elizabeth says as she puts a hand over her mouth. "I got chills when I saw you in that."

"Yeah." I say as I look at my reflection. I turn to look at my crowd. "What do you guys think?"

"Well there's already a tear rolling down that pretty cheek of yours, so of course that's the one." Abby says and I wipe my eyes. My eyes fall on Lucille who has tears in her eyes.

"How do you feel in it?" Tro asks as she walks over and observes me from all angles. "He's going to be like a moth to a flame." This is said right behind me.

"Shut up." I say as I look at my reflection over my shoulder. She's right though. Harper snickers.

"As if he isn't anyway. You're not givin' that poor man a chance, are you?" She asks and I smooth the dress and turn to them again.

"He already warned me he was going to cry like a little baby. Those are his exact words." I say and that brings a big smile to Lucille's face. "This is the one. Are we going to be able to get it in time?" I look to Fiona.

"You're at the top of my list. Don't you worry about a thing." She says as she waves away my worries. The logistics are taken care of and then Abby and Elizabeth have to leave us. As much as the afternoon has already been, it's a whirlwind. I hadn't even realized that it was dinner time.

"And now, to surprise McCowboy." Tro says as we enter a restaurant with Barbara, Lucille, Harper. I raise an eyebrow at her. "I just told him there was a surprise for you, I didn't tell him what it was." She strolls confidently past the host podium and to a more secluded part of the restaurant. I see Leonard, Jim, and Trevor seated at a table.

"Momma?" Leonard asks with a raised eyebrow as he stands up. He smiles as he walks over and gives her a hug. "And it's good to see you too, Harper. You need to have a talk with that brother of mine. I swear, he complains about you and Ollie more than anything now."

"Troian said they get used to it eventually." She says with a shrug and he rolls his eyes. I laugh.

"Did you find something?" Jim asks as he rests his chin in his hand. I put on a remorseful expression. "Yikes, no luck?"

"No, there was luck." I say and then I look to Leonard. "You shouldn't even wear socks." He laughs.

"Noted." He says as he pulls out a chair for both his mother and I. Harper has already taken her seat. "And you actually like it?"

"There were manly, Ollie tears." Babs says and that makes me laugh. "Of course she looked gorgeous in everything she tried on."

"That goes without sayin'." He agrees and I shake my head. "You're beautiful, get over it."

"I do actually like my dress. Fiona is a very talented designer." I say and Trevor nods his agreement. "All this talk of weddings, really gets you thinking, doesn't it Dad?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He says as he takes a drink of his whiskey. Tro snickers.

"Weddings, Dad, I know you're getting old, but come on." She says and he shoots her a look.

"I don't think we've met before, Jim Kirk." Jim says as he shakes Harper's hand. It's not his flirtatious introduction, but it's still Jim Kirk.

"Harper Holloway." She says with a brief smile before she looks over at me. The server comes and we order. "So what are you thinking for the bridesmaids?"

"You know? I was thinking of going with a rustic look for the bridesmaids. Potato sacks and lace ribbon." I say with a nod and Babs gapes at me before she clears her throat and takes a drink from her wine glass.

"I'm sure that we can come up with something that will look nice and goes along with your vision." She says and I lock eyes with Tro.

"She's kidding, Babs." She says and the woman lets out a breath. "This is how she copes with attention being on her."

"Is it?" I ask as I think about it. "I guess." I shrug and then I shake my head. "Didn't we decide peach and navy?" I look to Leonard who nods. It made me happy that he did actually contribute to the conversation about our wedding colors.

"I'm just excited to get an entire summer with you." Lucille puts a hand over mine. It's true, I'll be headed to Georgia in a week to help plan everything. "And then my oldest son three weeks less than a whole summer."

"Momma, I tried to get out of it, but I'm actually a pretty good doctor." He says and I smile at him.

"A pretty good doctor who's too good to help plan his own wedding." She says and Jim shakes his head sadly.

"It's a shame you used your last favor on stalking Ollie's combat class." He says and she raises her eyebrows.

"It was a whole thing." I say, trying to wave it away. "He had a hunch about me facing this guy who had a problem with me and he was worried."

"A problem? Sweetheart, who could possibly have a problem with you?" She asks, turning to me and I sigh lightly.

"Well...it all started last spring. This guy was going on about how there was no way a woman could be better than him and it made me mad, so I showed him that it was possible. Then a couple of weeks before you guys visited with Joanna, we were sparring and I won, but then he got angry and attacked me." I try to downplay it. "But everything is fine now."

"Well that is not fine. Why on Earth was he allowed to remain in the same class as you?" She asks, angry on my behalf.

"Because Olivia Gray is a saint." Trevor says with a shake of his head. "I wanted to ship him off to an outpost on the border of the neutral zone."

"Except he is talented and I don't think that should be wasted because he can't control his temper. Which he is learning, by the way, my brother Pete scared him so bad after that he didn't even want to look at me when Ash had us spar that day. I had to make him angry to get him to spar me." I say with a shake of my head. "But really I did him a favor. It would have been worse for him had he refused to fight me."

"It would have. Ash's principles are simple. You don't start a fight, but you certainly don't back down from them." Trevor says with a shake of his head. "He was a regular instructor back in my academy days."

"I've been under his tutelage for a total of three months in my life and they have been the most intense months of my life." I say with a shake of my head.

"Blew out her voice day one of takin' over one of her classes." Leonard says and Lucille raises her eyebrows. "That's what I said. We've seen more cadets from his class than I've seen from Groff in the two years we've been here."

"I don't know, I kind of like his style. He doesn't focus on just the physical aspect of overtaking an opponent. Anyone can learn to throw a punch, it takes something else to make sure you come out on top when it comes to it." Tro says thoughtfully. "He put some edge back onto Ollie's style which is what it needed. I have no doubts she can take care of herself now."

"If it comes to it. I'd still rather talk it out." I say and she shrugs. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Because Bones stalked you." Jim reminds me and I shake my head. "And then Diaz, oh man. I heard about that." I know my face is turning red. "Aw, Ollie."

"Quit picking on her, Kirk." Trevor and Tro say at the same time. I look at Leonard and raise my eyebrows.

"What about Diaz?" Harper asks and I look at her with pleading eyes. "Well now I have to know."

"Well," I clear my throat, since apparently it won't be dropped. "Ms. Diaz is a single mother to a lovely little angel by the name of Rosa and so she doesn't get out much. So she would occasionally attempt to live vicariously through me because it amused her."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Darlin'." Leonard says, amused. "Diaz is a little crass, Momma, and Ollie gets real embarrassed which makes it worse for her because she's so cute when she's flustered."

"I am reporting you along with Daniels, Simmons, and Diaz for harassment." I mutter as I sink in my seat. Lucille chuckles as she gives my hand a squeeze. "Admiral, can I submit a formal complaint to you right now?"

"It's all in good fun, Ollie, but McCoy, a word of advice, you probably shouldn't tease your fiancée like that. It'll get you in trouble." Trevor says and I nod.

"This boy will always be in trouble. He's just like his daddy. Worse than his brother is even." Lucille says and Harper shakes her head.

"I don't know, Andy is pretty ornery. But I do sort of like the thing where they can't tell us no." She says and I laugh. "Oh come on, tell me you haven't used that to your advantage."

"She typically doesn't have to." Leonard says with a sigh. "She has a way of raisin' good points that I can't argue with. Even as her doctor. You'd think I'd win some of those arguments, but no, she claims I'm bein' more of a boyfriend than a doctor and threatens to go over my head to my superior."

"Well, don't be unreasonably protective and I won't have to use that promise." I say simply. "I listen to you when it really counts."

"Lucky for me or else I might lose my mind." He says and I wink at him. He rolls his eyes. "You think you're so cute."

"Yeah, I do." I say sweetly. "So Jim, I heard that you were going to be an assistant instructor on an advanced combat course next semester."

"Eh, you know." He shrugs. "It's really not that big of a deal." I raise an eyebrow at him. "What? It's not."

"It shows how you've grown, James. I'm proud of you." I say sincerely. "Since apparently Leonard and I are your parents."

"That was once, I was drunk and you made me go to bed." He says and that has Lucille laughing. "Everyone thinks she's so sweet."

"I'm sweet…I just also know how to get things done. I've watched Pete throw rowdy drunk kids out of Scully's more times than I can remember. If he hadn't known who I was, I probably would have been one of them." I say and Harper raises an eyebrow.

"You? A rowdy drunk? Now I don't believe that at all." She says and Leonard shakes his head.

"Before the bartender put an end to it, they had Tequila Tuesdays where she would teach the 'fresh blood' how to do tequila shots." He says and Jim looks at me with a twisted sort of amazement.

"No way." He says and I shrug. "How any self-respecting small-town kid didn't know how to do a tequila shot, I'll never know. But Ollie from Scully's must have been something else."

"There are some stories I will never tell. Twenty-one and most of twenty-two were rough." I say with a shake of my head. "I'm much happier now."


End file.
